Chef Jose Garces was not new to the Iron Chef brand before he was cast as a contestant on Season 2 of “The Next Iron Chef” on Food Network. He had competed against Iron Chef Bobby Flay in an episode of “Iron Chef America” and had defeated Flay in Kitchen Stadium, something that may have spring-boarded him into his role as the newest Iron Chef after winning Season 2 last week. Garces defeated Jehangir Mehta of New York City in the battle of ribs and racks to win the crown, and he owns and operates several restaurants in both Philadelphia and Chicago.

We had the chance to ask Chef Garces a few questions after his big win last weekend….

Premium Hollywood: From the start of this season, you appeared to be a frontrunner….I remember everyone picking your dish as a favorite in the first episode. Did you feel you could win right from the start, or did the competition make you nervous?

Jose Garces: That was definitely a boost to my ego and my psyche in terms on winning the competition. Getting that first victory was huge and kind of springboarded me into the rest of the competition. But there were some solid competitors there, and they say that on any given day a chef can have a bad day…so there’s always that nervousness that played itself in as well.

PH: Last (Sunday night) judge Jeffrey Steingarten commented that he wouldn’t pay to eat your food. I’m not so sure I believe him, but what was your feeling when he said that?

JG: Well honestly, I am a little insulted by it. He seemed to be enjoying the food, and he had good comments while I was there in front of the judges. So it just seemed a little more biased and kind of reactionary that he said that.

PH: Looking back on this past season, what moment or what dish of yours made you most proud?

JG: Oh wow….well, I was actually very proud of the finale food we put together. My team and I worked very hard. And it may have seemed like a safe menu, but it was very difficult to get all of those cuts of meat tender and perfect for the finale, so I was really proud overall for that particular menu.

“Iron Chef America” airs on Sunday nights on The Food Network. Check your local listings or visit www.foodnetwork.com for more information.

Last night’s finale of “The Next Iron Chef” on Food Network featured a battle in Kitchen Stadium akin to the real Iron Chef show…and that’s really how it should have been. It was also very close between chefs Garces and Mehta…and while each has a distinct cooking style, the judges had the difficult choice of crowning one of them the season’s champ, one to join the ranks of Flay, Batali, Cora, Morimoto, and Symon on the popular show.

The chairman began as he does every Iron Chef show..by disclosing the secret ingredient–ribs and racks…both pork and beef. Their task was to use that ingredient to create five dishes that represented America as a melting pot of cultures. It was also a daunting task because of the time usually required to break down rib meat, as they would have just 60 minutes.

The judges were the regulars–Anya Fernald, Jeffrey Steingarten and Donatella Arpaia, with input from Iron Chefs Bobby Flay, Michael Symon and Masaharu Morimoto…as well as host Alton Brown and the chairman.

Mehta’s goal was to fuse different cultures, and his dishes were: smothered dumplings, which Steingarten especially loved….a pork burger with chipotle mayo, which drew criticism from the judges for not being cooked quite enough…..an Indian spare rib with saffron rice, showing his roots….a buffalo steak with chocolate wine sauce, and while the judges applauded the multitude of flavors going on, some of them thought it was a bit too sweet….and finally, chef Mehta finished with a buffalo tartare topped with avocado sorbet, a dish one of the judges referred to as “outstanding,” while another said that chef Mehta “nailed it.”

Chef Garces themed everything after Chicago, where he was born, while showing off the general melting pot theme: he started with a buffalo tartare with Kobe beef sirloin, and the judges thought it was very flavorful and showed Garces’ control of the secret ingredient….a carnitas taco, which unfortunately had some large pieces of cartilage, and which some judges (ahem, Flay) thought it lacked heat…..a pork loin crusted with mustard and herbs, which one judge called “succulent”……a beef short rib pizza with bacon marmalade, which was said to be bold but “perplexing” with its blend of flavors…..and Garces finished with baby back ribs and spicy barbecue sauce, something the judges liked with its nice balance. However, Donatella claimed that she thought this dish to be safe, while Michael Symon disagreed with her.

The judges agreed that many of the dishes were similar, but that the approaches were quite different. Chef Mehta generally tries harder to present his dishes well, while Chef Garces goes more for technique and flavor. The judging points would be taste, originality and presentation.
Well, we figured Garces would win in taste and Mehta in presentation, and originality was probably ultimately a draw.

So as Donatella alluded to, the final choice was going to be who they thought would be the best Iron Chef to carry on the franchise in future Kitchen Stadium battles. That person, as the chairman announced at the end of the episode, was…..Jose Garces! I personally was having trouble seeing Mehta as an Iron Chef, and I think in the end the judges thought the same thing.

Chef Garces believed he would win, and probably believed that since Day 1. But this was a heck of a battle, and Chef Mehta has nothing to be ashamed of.

Okay, so chef Garces will now take his place alongside the other five Iron Chefs and begin battles that aren’t as critical to anything but his own reputation. And I think he does the franchise proud. We’ll have a chance to talk to Chef Garces on a conference call later today and will share those with you soon. Thanks for reading this season!

Last night was the premiere of “The Next Iron Chef” on Food Network, the second such season that last year produced Cleveland’s Michael Symon and made fringe and now budding stars of Aron Sanchez and Chris Constantino. And just like last year, this season boasts ten very worth chefs. Here is the field:

Jehangir Mehta from New York City
Nate Appleman from San Francisco
Amanada Freitag from New York City (you may know her as an occasional judge on “Chopped”)
Seamus Mullen from New York City
Holly Smith from Seattle
Jose Garces from Philadelphia
Dominique Crenn from San Francisco
Roberto Trevino from San Juan
Eric Greenspan from Los Angeles
Brad Farmerie from New York City

My first question is, could they not find anyone from a state that doesn’t border an ocean? Or did Michael Symon already lay claim to that distinction? And by the way, the series is taking place in Los Angeles, a city that borders an ocean.

Anyway, after meeting the chairman and having him look and act like a snake with these weird sound effects, they were introduced to series host Alton Brown, who is looking, well, angry. The chairman had chosen an ingredient for each chef to make something in 45 minutes time that showed a personal and cultural connection for them. They would then tell their story and feed each other, and would also be judges for each other.

Chef Mullen made salmon confit, Freitag made beer stew, Greenspan matzo ball soup, Mehta mango sorbet that became mango lassi, Farmerie asparagus stir fry, Appleman country ham and green bean stew, Crenn braised apple salad, Garces chowder with queso fresco, Smith lamb kidneys (ewww), and Trevino masa migas (I have no idea what those are but they looked good). As they were tasting and voting on each dish, it became clear that Chef Appleman is a douche, Chef Freitag was as squeamish as I would be eating lamb kidneys, and Chef Garces is a damn good cook. I say the latter because he was a hands-down consensus winner.

Then came the main challenge, and for this one, each chef was also given an ingredient by the chairman. But this time, it was the type of ingredient you don’t normally see on a menu…vile, disgusting, really disgusting, bordering on non-food ingredients. Garces had cockscombs, which look like those things on top of roosters’ heads and I’m pretty sure that’s what they are. Greenspan had grasshoppers. Freaking grasshoppers. Bugs! Freitag had the most mainstream ingredient, eel. Mullen had sea cucumber, which is really like a fish and not a vegetable. Appleton had unlaid eggs, which had attached to them what were either intestines or a placenta. Now, I’m thinking two things here. One, I’m glad they gave the douche this ingredient. And two, hold your thumb about a 1/4 inch from your index finger. That’s how close this network is to making someone eat animal waste. And when they do that, I’m done watching anything on the network. Bob Tuschman and Susie Fogelson, you’ve been warned.

Anyway, Farmerie had durian, which is a staple in Asia that is a fruit that smells like limberger cheese. Trevino had chicken feet, Smith jellyfish, Mehta duck tongue and Crenn something called stinky tofu. It’s stinky because it’s like, fermented or something. Ewww. So there were at least two ingredients here that smelled and probably tasted like stinky feet. Literally.

But then since Garces won the first challenge, he had the right to make two of the chefs switch ingredients, and he chose Mullen and Crenn, who had to swap stinky tofu for sea cucumber. And I’m thinking, at this point, does it matter who has what? Because they are all disgusting.

They had to each make two dishes in 75 minutes time, and then present those to the judges–Anya Fernald, Jeffrey Steingarten and Donatella Arpaia. And it was at this point that I’m thinking that if the Food Network ever approaches me or anyone I love about being a judge on an Iron Chef show, I politely and disgustingly decline. Because I or they are going to have to eat those yucky creations. These three didn’t seem to mind at all, however.

Anyway, here is what they made and the order in which they were declared safe or not by Alton Brown:

Appleman: unlaid egg carbonara, and zabaglione custard
Mullen: stinky tofu wrapped in bacon (always a smart move with bacon), and stinky tofu and bean stew
Mehta: pickled duck tongue and duck tongue jam
Trevino: Phoenix chicken feet and “feet dust”
Freitag: Eel osso buco and grilled eel
Garces: braised cockscombs and cockscombs tempura
Farmerie: Grilled scallops with durian and durian custard
Smith: Jellyfish in a cold salad and as a soup with coconut
Crenn: braised sea cucumber and sea cucumber pudding
and Greenspan: a salad with roasted grasshoppers and grasshopper gremolata over, of all things, pork medallions.

And after being visibly disgusted by the unlaid eggs and bickering between Steingarten and the two ladies, the bottom line was not that someone couldn’t not be disgusted by the ingredient, but that Greenspan made flavorless pork to serve under his grasshopper gremolata. And for that he was, expectedly and deservedly, booted off. The dude was pissed, saying he couldn’t do anything really great with grasshopper, but again, it was the pork that did him in.

Okay, so we now have, what, eight weeks left? I really hope they tone down the inedible foods portion of this show and make things that I would actually consider eating. Because really, they’re going to alienate 99% of their audience, not just me.

See you all next week….