ICA: Symon vs. Izard
Iron Chef Michael Symon faces off against challenger Stephanie Izard. Chef Izard, a James Beard Award nominee and Top Chef winner, is chef and owner of Girl & The Goat in Chicago. The Judges are Anthony Anderson, Karine Bakhoum and David Rocco (be sure to check out my exclusive interview with David HERE).
Stephanie Izard is no stranger to anyone who follows cheflebrities. She was the winner of Bravo’s Top Chef 4. Today she is easily the most accomplished and successful TC winner.
After graduating from the Le Cordon Bleu program at the Scottsdale Culinary Institute, Chef Izard worked at the Camelback Inn Resort & Spa, as well as a couple other restaurants, but then made the very spur-of-the-moment decision to pack up and move to Chicago in 2001. She’s been in love with the city ever since. After landing in Chicago, Stephanie got a gig as garde manger at Jean-George Vongerichten’s Chicago outpost of Vong.
After leaving Vong, Steph worked as a roundsman at Spring under Shawn McClain and then sous chef at La Tache with Dale Levitsky. In 2006, she branched out on her own with the Bucktown restaurant Scylla, which was quickly named one of the 10 best restaurants in the country by Bon Appetit. Being both owner and chef of her own place was a huge learning experience, but she opted to close in 2008.
That’s when she appeared on Top Chef, after which Izard assembled a team to open Girl & The Goat in Chicago’s West Loop. Food Network Star finalist and good friend Judson Allen assures me that Girl & The Goat is in his opinion the best restaurant in the Windy City. The lady can bring it.
Top Chef vs. Iron Chef. Izard vs. Symon. This should be one for the ages. Be sure to check out my exclusive interview with Iron Chef Symon HERE.
| Symon | Izard | |
| Taste | 27 | 27 |
| Originality | 14 | 12 |
| Plating | 15 | 13 |
| Total | 56 | 52 |
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.
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Flay Hastings
Taste: 29 Taste: 15
Plating: 12 Plating: 14
Originality: 11 Originality: 14
Total: 52 Total: 53
ICA: Zakarian vs. Sawyer
Iron Chef Geoffrey Zakarian faces off against Challenger Jonathon Sawyer. Chef Sawyer, who previously appeared as Iron Chef Michael Symon’s sous chef on ‘Iron Chef America,’ is owner of The Greenhouse Tavern, in Cleveland, Ohio. Judges are Sophie Michell, David Rocco (be sure to check out my exclusive interview with David HERE) and Cady Huffman.
Chef Jonathon Sawyer, a Cleveland native, first learned to cook at the age of 13. He attended the University of Dayton and graduated from the Pennsylvania Institute of Culinary Arts. His post-graduate career started at The Biltmore Hotel in Miami and continued alongside renowned chef Charlie Palmer in New York at Kitchen 22. Following his work with Charlie Palmer, Johnathon moved back to his hometown to open Lolita as Chef de Cuisine for his friend and colleague, Michael Symon.
In 2007, Jonathon moved back to his hometown to pursue his dream of opening his own restaurant. This dream was realized in the opening of Bar Cento, a modern Roman enoteca in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood. In April of 2009, Jonathon opened The Greenhouse Tavern which has been named one of the Top Ten Best New Restaurants in the United States by Bon Appetit.
When Chef Sawyer enters Kitchen Stadium waiting for him will be the newest Iron Chef Geoffrey “the Technician” Zakarian armed again with celebrity sous chef Alex Guarnaschelli in Battle: Mint.
Check below for the outcome.
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Zakarian Sawyer
Taste: 24 Taste: 20
Plating: 13 Plating: 10
Originality: 12 Originality: 10
Total: 49 Total: 40
