ICA: Flay vs. Hastings
Iron Chef Bobby Flay faces off against Challenger Chris Hastings, chef and owner at Hot and Hot Fish Club in Birmingham, Alabama. Judges are Anthony Anderson, Donatella Arpaia Stewart and Simon Majumdar.
It has taken 12 years but there is finally a chef from Alabama battling in Kitchen Stadium. Why is this a big deal? Alabama has one of the richest food traditions in the country – West Indies Salad, Fried Green Tomatoes, White BBQ Sauce, et al. And what a chef they have chosen.
Christopher (along with wife Idie Hastings) is the chef and co-owner of the nationally celebrated Hot and Hot Fish Club in Birmingham, Alabama. Located in a historic 
building on Birmingham’s Southside, the award-winning restaurant has earned a reputation for serving some of the finest, freshest dishes in the region.
Hastings graduated from the Johnson & Wales Culinary School in Providence, Rhode Island and then returned to the South in 1984 to work at the Atlanta Ritz Carlton. After stints at Highlands Bar and Grill and Botega, Chef Chris moved to San Francisco, where he helped Bradley Ogden open the Lark Creek Inn.
In 1995, the Hastings returned to Birmingham to open the Hot and Hot Fish Club where Chris focused on the dinner menu and Idie used her pastry experience (earned in the kitchens of Jeremiah Towers’ Stars Café and Wolfgang Puck’s Postrio) to develop the dessert menu. Today, although the menus change daily to highlight the best possible products available, several signature items remain: the Hot and Hot Shrimp and Grits made with Country Ham, Fresh Thyme, Tomatoes and Ver Jus is always a favorite among the locals.
For more on Chef Christopher Hastings and the Hot and Hot Fish Club check out this great article from the Year of Alabama Food web site.
To see what happen when Hastings takes on Iron Chef Bobby Flay in Battle: Sausage tune into the Food Network this Sunday at 10/9 CT. If you haven’t already be sure to check out my exclusive interview with Iron Chef Bobby Flay (HERE).
For the outcome check below.
[ad] Empty ad slot (#1)!
Flay Hastings
Taste: 29 Taste: 15
Plating: 12 Plating: 14
Originality: 11 Originality: 14
Total: 52 Total: 53
ICA: Flay vs. Hughes
A special Iron Chef America pits Food Network against the Cooking Channel as Chuck Hughes (Chuck’s Day Off) is the first star from the kid sister network to enter Kitchen Stadium. Waiting for him will be Iron Chef Bobby Flay, a veteran of 46 battles. Will experience win out?
Chuck Hughes is a veteran of the Montreal food scene. He’s been working in “The City of Saints” since he left culinary school culminating in Garde Manger – an Old Town Montreal restaurant he opened with two friends in 2006.
Then came Chuck’s Day Off (read my review HERE) one of those outsourced Food Canada shows that make up a large part of the Cooking Channel’s initial line-up. Here’s what they have to say about their star, “Chuck was on the fast track to a career in advertising, but somewhere along the way, fell in love with the restaurant business. He enrolled in culinary school, started working in the city’s hottest kitchens and hasn’t looked back since.”
Judges for Battle: Canadian Lobster were John T. Edge, Karine Bakhoum and Stefan Gates. Chef Flay was once again assisted by Sous Chef Renee Forsberg (who I believe oversees Flay’s Mesa Grill outpost in the Bahamas). Chef Renee was sporting her signature Pocahontas ponytails. Also adding heat to Flay’s kitchen was the adorable Christine Sanchez, Culinary Director of the Iron Chef’s company, Bold Food.
If you haven’t already be sure to check out my exclusive interview with Iron Chef Bobby Flay (HERE).
Click HERE for the outcome.
[ad] Empty ad slot (#1)!
…
