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Marc Forgione on being the Next Iron Chef

Marc Forgione on being the Next Iron Chef

Marc Forgione’s star is definitely on the rise. Last month his restaurant received two stars from The New York Times and on Sunday he was crowned The Next Iron Chef, continuing his drive to establish himself as not just the son of American culinary pioneer, Larry Forgione, but a great chef in his own right.

The chef-owner of restaurant Marc Forgione in New York started working in his father’s restaurant, An American Place, at 16 years old, in 1994 — many years after Larry Forgione was established as an early definer of American cuisine.

His first chef de cuisine job was at BLT Prime, which he opened in 2005 under the direction of Laurent Tourondel. In 2008 he set off on his own and opened Forge in June of that year. A trademark dispute forced him to rename the restaurant, so he named it after himself.

Apart from the Times review, which has kept the restaurant booked during the prime-time dinner hours of 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Marc Forgione also earned a star from the New York Michelin guide.

Nation’s Restaurant News first interviewed Forgione when he began at BLT Prime five years ago and asked him where he would like to be in five years. His response: “I’d like to open a small restaurant in New York City, but we’ll see what happens. My dream: 75-seat restaurant; four, five people in the kitchen. My food.”

Restaurant Marc Forgione seats 60, with room for another 30 people at the communal table. He works with four other cooks on the hot line, plus one garde manger.

Forgione spoke with NRN about his latest achievement.

Why did you decide to be on The Next Iron Chef?

They called me. I was also asked to try out for Top Chef and Chopped, and I never felt like that really had anything to do with what I wanted to do. But if there’s anything that’s about food or raw talent, it’s Iron Chef. I didn’t even have to think twice about it.

How long did it take to film?

It took almost exactly a month to do, then there was week break, and then the finale. It was a weird experience. I pretty much signed off on everything else in my life. I was kind of consumed with the show.

My crew at the restaurant was dealt a tough hand. I found out, like, three days before filming, that I was going to be on the show — I was the last one to be picked — so I didn’t have time to hire anyone. But everyone in the kitchen really pulled together, and they got the job done.

I guess you’ve known for a while that you were the winner.

Yeah, but it didn’t feel real until Sunday. I couldn’t tell anybody. Friends and family didn’t even know. I kept it very hush-hush.

What did you do to celebrate?

We had everybody I’ve ever known my whole life in the restaurant. We had a red carpet, everyone was dressed up. It was pretty cool — like the Oscars.

What has the public reaction been like?

Obviously, the phone’s been ringing off the hook, with people wanting reservations or just to congratulate me. It’s something that I’ve always wanted.

Our website went from a few hundred hits a day to 9,000 hits yesterday [Monday]. My immediate plans are literally to stay here, in the restaurant, and make sure that with all this newfound attention that people aren’t let down when they come in.

This is our moment to show everyone what we’ve been doing the whole time.

Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected].
 

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