ICA: Flay vs. Staib

Philadelphia’s Walter Staib is a German-trained chef with a passion for food history. Will his battle against Iron Chef Flay go down in history as a thrilling victory or a crushing defeat?

Chef Walter Staib is one of the most decorated chefs in America.  He’s been bringing home the hardware since the mid 1980’s and is still going strong, three awards already this year.  He’s been cooking professionally since taking his first job in 1960.  In the strictest European tradition it was an apprenticeship at the historic five-star Hotel Post in the Black Forest near Nagold, Germany.  Still in operation today, the hotel has played host to world leaders dating back to Napoleon Bonaparte.

Chef Staib made the rounds in Europe working in other restaurants in Germany as well as Switzerland, before taking his first US post at Chicago’s Mid America Club in 1969 and so on and so forth to England, Thailand, Brazil, France.  In 1989 he added hospitality consultant to his resume when he launched Concepts By Staib, Ltd.  Today he commands the kitchen at City Tavern Restaurant in Philadelphia and is the host of the Emmy winning A Taste of History.  He recently became an author with the publication of The City Tavern Cookbook: karRecipes from the Birthplace of American Cuisine.

Chef Staib’s vaunted career has taken him all over the world spanning four continents but Kitchen Stadium is a different animal for there awaits Iron Chef Bobby Flay.  The judges for Battle: Short Ribs were Karine Bakhoum, Cady Huffman, John T Edge and Nina Griscom.

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Flay                   Staib
Taste: 34                Taste: 23
Plating: 17              Plating: 11
Originality: 18        Originality: 11
Total: 69                 Total: 45