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Chicago restaurateurs test their mettle during ‘Iron Chef America’ appearances

Chicago restaurateurs test their mettle during ‘Iron Chef America’ appearances

Several well-known Chicago chefs who recently challenged three “Iron Chef America” champions on the Food Network learned that the heat of the hour-long competition is far more grueling than the heat of their own restaurants’ kitchens during even the busiest dinner rushes.

Chefs who appeared on the television show included Gale Gand and Rick Tramonto of Tru, Homaru Cantu of Moto, and Elliot Graham Bowles of Avenues. All were happy to showcase in their respective contests the cuisine they are doing today in Chicago, which long has suffered from a second-city complex.

“It was like a pilgrimage; we were proud to represent Chicago,” Gand said. “It was like being in the Olympics.” She and Tramonto competed against Mario Batali.

Gand, who is used to TV cameras, found the Iron Chef experience to be nerve-wracking nonetheless.

“The cords from the cameras made it like working in a snake pit,” she said. “You’re trying not to fall while carrying hot liquids.”

Her worst moment came when she tried to put a sheet pan of desserts in the oven and found the pan didn’t fit.

“I was really mad, and I started swearing. They were able to edit it out,” she said.

Bowles said he felt “like being a fish out of water” in the Iron Chef kitchen. “We stayed calm and focused but still we could not know that kitchen as well as our own,” he said.

“I think we were given a fair shake,” Bowles said. “We knew that our food might not appeal to every single person. We did very well in originality and plating.” Bowles lost to Bobby Flay by two points and said he’d gladly be on the show again.

Cantu said the hardest part wasn’t the actual battle but getting 18 large boxes of equipment for his personalized take on molecular gastronomy to New York, including a Class 4 laser that he carried on the plane.

“It can blow a hole in metal, but we had no problem getting it on,” he said. “The security people didn’t know what it was.”

Not leaving anything to chance, he got blueprints of the Iron Chef kitchen so he could duplicate the kitchen layout at Moto and practice with sous chef Darrel Nemeth and pastry chef Ben Roche.

On the morning of the show, Nemeth and Roche both woke up with stomach viruses and could barely function. “We wound up in a Chinese herbal shop, where they gave them something that made them snap out of it,” Cantu said.

Cantu and his team beat Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto by two points. In spite of his win, Cantu said he would not compete again. “It was too hard on my family and personal life,” he said, “and my goal isn’t to be on the Food Network.”

Nevertheless, Cantu gained new respect for any chef who’s on television. “It’s a ton of work to do that and still run a restaurant,” he said. “I don’t know how they do it.”

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