ICA: Forgione Brothers vs. Campanaro Brothers
Two teams of culinary brothers meet in Kitchen Stadium. Iron Chef Marc Forgione teams up with his brother, Bryan, to face off against Challenger Joey Campanaro and his brother Lou. Joey Campanaro makes his second appearance in Kitchen Stadium, having previously been bested by Iron Chef Cat Cora in Battle Venison. Judges are Cady Huffman, Mario Rizzotti and Anya Fernald.
Joey Campanaro was raised in an Italian-American household in Philadelphia where the food of his childhood inspired him to make cooking his vocation. With a culinary approach firmly rooted in his 
Italian grandmother’s kitchen and honed in a range of America’s top restaurants, Joey brings a lifelong affinity for Mediterranean cuisine to every dish he creates.
Lou Campanaro has always loved his family and loved to cook. At his new Philadelphia restaurant, Village Belle, he gets to incorporate those two things into his daily life, working in the kitchen alongside his brother Joey. Leo was also on Joey’s last team to enter Kitchen Stadium.
Bryan Forgione is the son of one of America’s great chefs, Larry Forgione – the godfather of modern American cuisine. Bryan is also the little brother of Iron Chef Marc Forgione who earned his title by winning Next Iron Chef 3. The younger Forgione is also the executive chef at Society Café Encore in Las Vegas so he’s no slouch either.
This battle of the brothers should prove interesting with a secret ingredient like parmigiana reggiano. If you haven’t yet, make sure you check out my exclusive interview with Iron Chef Marc Forgione (HERE).
Check below for the outcome.
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Forgiones Campanaros
Taste: 25 Taste: 21
Plating: 13 Plating: 12
Originality: 15 Originality: 10
Total: 53 Total: 43
ICA: Garces vs. Medina – Outcome
SPOILER ALERT: The following information is the outcome of Garces vs. Medina. If you want information on the combatants click HERE. If you are only interested in the outcome read on.
Judges for Battle: Mexican Chocolate were John O’Hurley, Karine Bakhoum, Michael and Rick Mast.
Garces Medina
Taste: 34 Taste: 37
Plating: 18 Plating: 18
Originality: 20 Originality: 16
Total: 72 Total: 71
Next time it’s Iron Chef Michael Symon vs. the youngest (and possibly hottest) chef to ever enter Kitchen Stadium, 24-year-old chef Emma Hearst.
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ICA: Garces vs. Medina
After a week off for the Super Bowl, ICA is back with another new episode. This week Mexico City native Julian Medina enters Kitchen Stadium to challenge the master of Latin food, Iron Chef Jose Garces.
Chef Julian Medina first learned to cook alongside his father and grandfather while growing up in Mexico City. When he was 17 he apprenticed at Chef Alejandro Heredia’s Hacienda de los Morales. But two years later he followed his growing interest in French cuisine to Les Célébrités, one of the most famous French resutaurants in Mexico. It took him just three years to rise to sous chef.
In the mid-nineties he came to the attention of fellow Mexico City native Richard Sandoval who was just starting to build his empire of 17 restaurants in four countries. Sandoval liked what he saw in the young chef and shipped him off to New York to be the Chef de Cuisine at Maya.
While working in the Big Apple, Medina earned his culinary degree at the French Culinary Institute. Having mastered both Mexican and French cuisine Medina ventured into Asian fusion as the executive chef as SushiSamba, a NYC eatery blending Japanese and South American flavors. Medina moved to Miami to open SushiSamba7 before returning to Sandoval’s employ as a corporate chef developing menus for several restaurants.
Today Medina has his own growing restaurant empire with Toloache (Maiden Lane and also W. 50th St.) and Yerbabuena (23 Ave. as well as Perry St.). Chef Julian brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to Kitchen Stadium but will it be enough against Iron Chef Garces? We shall see.
Judges for Battle: Mexican Chocolate were John O’Hurley, Karine Bakhoum, Michael and Rick Mast. This makes the fifth time some form of chocolate was the secret ingredient.
Click HERE for the outcome.
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