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The challenger’s restaurant is often visited by Crown Prince Akihito, Princess Masako and Princess Kiko. He started his culinary training at the age of 15. He became a head chef at 24. The Chairman spent 1 million yen on the theme ingredient for these young chefs. (That’s a little over $12,000 now, about $8,200 back then.)
You can visit the challenger’s restaurant’s homepage here. (Unfortunately, there is not an English version of it.)
537sub – Matsutake Battle – Masahiko Kobe vs. Fujio Imai – 10/3/1997
This episode is in Japanese with English subtitles.
This challenger is the youngest ever to enter Kitchen Stadium. At the young age of 22, she already heads the kitchen of a bustling Chinese restaurant in Tokyo. She was only 7 when she began helping her father in the kitchen that she eventually took over. She feels that a chef’s job is more important than that of a doctor. Once again, Chen is called upon to take on a female challenger.
See how the challenger looks now (almost 15 years later) by visiting her homepage.
536sub – Cucumber Battle – Chen Kenichi vs. Miyuki Igarashi – 9/26/1997
This episode is in Japanese with English subtitles.
The challenger has declined many invitations from Chairman Kaga to do battle in Kitchen Stadium. He heads a French restaurant in Aoyama, Tokyo. He trained in top restaurants in France. It’s a French on French battle as Toshiyuki Nakajima takes on Iron Chef Sakai in Battle Beef Cheek.
To add to the tension, apparently Sakai’s restaurant is not far from the challenger’s. According to Google Maps, it’s about a 10 minute walk between restaurants. See for yourself here. (This location of La Rochelle has closed as of 9/30/11, but this is where it was in 1997.)
For more information about the challenger’s restaurant, visit the website here.
535sub – Beef Cheek Battle – Hiroyuki Sakai vs. Toshiyuki Nakajima – 9/12/1997
This episode is in Japanese with English subtitles.