ICA: Garces vs. Weitzman
Iron Chef Jose Garces faces off against challenger Rebecca Weitzman. Chef Weitzman is the executive chef at Redwood Kitchenette in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood. The judges for Battle: Silkie Chicken are Karine Bakhoum, Art Smith, and Julie White.
Chef Weitzman grew up just outside of Boston but has made her bones working in some of the most well respected kitchens in the Big Apple. That includes time spent working for chef Bobby Flay at Mesa Grill, Bolo and Bar Americain as well as ‘inoteca Restaurant. Pedigreed toque Rebecca Weitzman made her name thrilling Park Slopers with locavore plates at Thistle Hill Tavern (where she is still partner, though no longer head chef). After a brief stint at gourmand movie-theater café Indie Food and Wine, the CIA grad has turned up at the cheery Chelsea diner, sporting redwood paneling, U-shaped teal banquettes and a blown-up vintage photo of a trailer amid crisp fall foliage, plus an actual shiny Airstream trailer retrofitted to serve as a bar.
If Chef Rebecca looks familiar to Food Network viewers it’s because she competed on Chopped back in 2010 on an episode called “First Things Worst.” There she took home the win making a dessert that included baby bananas, coconut flakes, pumpernickel rye and soy sauce. Hopefully that experience will translate into a solid performance in Kitchen Stadium but it won’t be easy as Iron Chef Jose Garces will be waiting.
Check below for the outcome.
| Garces | Weitzman | |
| Taste | 27 | 22 |
| Plating | 15 | 12 |
| Originality | 15 | 11 |
| Total | 57 | 45 |
ICA: Zakarian vs. Frauneder
Iron Chef Geoffrey Zakarian faces off against challenger Eduard Frauneder, executive chef at Edi & The Wolf in New York. Judges are Jeffrey Steingarten, Cady Huffman, and John Curtas.
One of the youngest Michelin-starred chefs from Austria, chef Eduard Frauneder began his culinary career at a young age. In his preteens, he worked alongside his father in the multiple bakeries and pastry shops the family owned in Vienna.
Fast forward years later, Frauneder’s passion for food hasn’t waned and he’s managed to bring his home flavors to Alphabet City of all places.
Along with business partner Wolfgang Ban, they opened their second NYC restaurant Edi & the Wolf. The result is a rustic yet sophisticated Austrian bistro. We chatted with the chef about Austrian flavors, grapes and Oktoberfest. To learn more about Chef Eduard Frauneder there is a great interview with him HERE from metro.us.
Waiting for Chef Frauneder is the newest Iron Chef Geoffrey Zakarian. Expect fireworks. Expect drama. Most of all expect amazing food. Bring on Battle Yak.
Check below for the outcome.
[ad] Empty ad slot (#1)!
| Zakarian | Frauneder | |
| Taste | 26 | 20 |
| Plating | 10 | 14 |
| Originality | 10 | 13 |
| Total | 46 | 47 |
Food Network Scores Best-ever September
NEW YORK – September 27, 2012 – Food Network has launched into autumn with its best September in network history (up over 20% from September 2011), posting a .6 among adults 25-54 and was watched nightly by an average of 1.1 million P2+ total viewers making it the highest-rated, most-watched September ever. The network also ranked 8th among ad-supported cable networks A25-54 for the month, up one spot from last year, according to Nielsen Media Research*.
Sunday night series The Great Food Truck Race revved up ratings with an average .9 rating for adults 25-54 after premiering six episodes of the seven-week stunt. Also driving September’s success were primetime hits Restaurant Stakeout (averaging .9 adults 25-54, outpacing season one by 13%) and Restaurant Impossible (averaging .9 adults 25-54, up over 50% from the same timeslot a year ago). Food Network also saw success in its weekend daytime programming block, with Pioneer Woman posting .6 women 25-54, gaining +50% over year ago timeslot.
Chris Cosentino wins Top Chef Masters
From Inside Scoop San Francisco:
Earlier this month, San Francisco’s own Chris Cosentino (Incanto, Boccalone) was declared “the best chef in history,” and if you were anywhere near the Twitter machine last night (or you know, a television), then you know that he followed it up with another cooking show win. Cosentino won the fourth season of Top Chef Masters, following in the footsteps of prior winners Rick Bayless, Marcus Samuellson and Floyd Cardoz.
Upon topping fellow finalist Kerry Heffernan, Cosentino uttered an instant classic of a slogan: “Guts prevail.” He explained that the way he won the show — using his signature offal cuts, on a national stage — was validation that America can and should be cooking with offal more often.
Cosentino’s win was also a victory for his charity of choice, the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. He’s discussed his connection to Parkinson’s in the past, and now he’s contributed over $140,000 to the cause.
Here’s the winning moment:
Download a copy of Stuart’s anthology of ChefIlebrity Interviews.
