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Even though we’ve all heard the rumors that the show will be cancelled soon, let’s not worry about that right now and enjoy the next episode.
Once again, Kumiko Mori acts as the roving reporter for the show, visiting the home restaurant of tonight’s nominee. He is a chef for Hoshino Resorts. He will represent Japan at this year’s Bocuse d’Or in just a few days. He is Noriyuki Hamada. He will face “Mr. Perfect” Iron Chef Wakiya Yuji. It is a battle of French cuisine heavyweights.
Iron Chef Yomigaeru – Episode 9 – Iron Chef Wakiya vs. Noriyuki Hamada – 1/25/2013
I may try to go through and point out things that I am able to understand and/or look up. Anything below this point WILL contain spoilers.
HT to a helpful commenter.
http://justhungry.com/it-looks-revival-iron-chef-japan-has-been-cancelled
According to this article, it seems that the revival of Iron Chef will be rather short lived.
From the article:
“They even tried putting on a 3-hour live special on New Year’s Eve, against the venerable Kōhaku Uta Gassen on NHK – and only garnered a miserable 4% rating.” (OUCH. –KB)
Keep your eyes and ears open for more news.
UPDATE: No real news so far, but there is a good discussion going on over on the Kitchen Stadium message boards HERE. I really hope this is just worry about nothing and we have new episodes for years to come.
We open the episode with actress Kumiko Mori visiting the restaurant of today’s nominee. Ore no French (My French) is part of a restaurant chain operated by the man who brought the nominee to Kitchen Stadium. (You can read more about Takahashi Sakamoto and the restaurants in THIS ARTICLE and THIS ARTICLE.) There is a line outside before his restaurant even opens for the day with some people having been waiting for over 2 hours. Once she gets inside, there is something different about the restaurant. There are no seats and everyone stands at their table. She is served three dishes: Amaebi no tartar caviar wo nosete (Deep-Water Shrimp Tartare topped with Caviar), Uni to Tomato Mousse Jelly(?) (Sea Urchin and Tomato Mousse Jelly), and Roast Lobster with (some-kind-of) Wine Sauce. She assumes all are expensive, but they are actually not ($7.55, $16.66, $14.22).
Who is the French chef who produces such elegant dishes? He is French chef Nose Kazuhide. Now running a location of Ore no French, he was once the chef at the famous Chez Matsuo in Tokyo.
Iron Chef Yomigaeru – Episode 8 – Iron Chef Kurogi vs. Kazuhide Nose – 1/18/2013
This episode is presented in Japanese with NO English subtitles.
I thought we were going to see the 4th Iron Chef revealed during this episode. Now, the Fuji TV website says it will be revealed on January 25th, the next episode. See the comment from our friend Miwa in Japan about this.
I am going to post things I notice as I’m watching the episode for the first time (which I am still doing. So there will be a lot of updates.). Anything below this point will contain spoilers.
(Special thanks to Miwa for letting me know about this show.)
Today’s addition to Beyond Kitchen Stadium is a television show that aired on Japanese TV earlier this month (1/4/2013). The Japanese talk show Another Sky featured the original (and only true, in my opinion) chairman Takeshi Kaga. Kaga will be enjoying meals that remind him of his 30th, 40th, 50, and 60th years.
–We first see Kaga travel to Paris to enjoy a dish at the famed La Tour d’Argent.
–He then has a dish prepared by the host of the show to represent his 30th year. He seems pleased and the co-host is pleasantly surprised at his partner’s cooking ability.
–For his 40th year dish, he visits two time Ryouri no Tetsujin challenger Pierre Gagnaire. You might remember him from the France Special where he challenged Iron Chef Sakai. He also took part in the 1995 Iron Chef World Cup. (That one is not on the site yet, but it’s coming soon. If you don’t want to see a spoiler about that episode, skip 10:30-11:10 of this show.)
–He leaves Paris and travels to Kanazawa in the northern part of Japan for his 50th year dish. Of course, Kaga was born in Kanazawa. (And I’m pretty sure he said something about college, so perhaps he went to college there, too.) The restaurant he visits is run by another former Ryouri no Tetsujin challenger, Kawada Yasuo from episode 243 (Angler, vs Michiba). Kaga requests Chawanmushi and he finds if “Delicious.”
–Returning to France for his 60th year dish, he heads to Bergerac for some of the finest wines in the Bordeaux region. There he shares a duck dinner and a bottle of wine the same vintage as himself (1950) with the owner of the hotel. Kaga couldn’t leave without visiting a statue of Cyrano de Bergerac since he played the lead role in the musical Cyrano in 2009. And apparently, he is playing the role again 1/6/2013-2/10/2013. (I thought I remembered seeing something about this on my trip. I just looked in my folder of stuff I picked up in Japan on my trip, and I found a flyer for the show that I got in the lobby of the Fuji Television building. I need to scan it and put the picture up when I finally get around to writing about my day in Odaiba. Found it: FRONT, BACK.)
I hope you enjoy this show. It is in Japanese with no subtitles, but I think you will still enjoy seeing our chairman enjoy special dishes to commemorate the milestone years of his life.
Beyond Kitchen Stadium – Takeshi Kaga on Another Sky (1/4/2013)
According to the Fuji Television Iron Chef Official Page, we will find out the identity of the 4th Iron Chef during the next episode on January 18th. Of course, if anyone sees any stories in the Japanese press, please let me know, and I’ll be happy to share the news here.
I’m also in the process of uploading a show that aired on Japanese TV 1/4/13 featuring the original (and only, in my opinion) chairman Takeshi Kaga. It will be up tonight.
I meant to write this a few days ago before a new year started, but time got away from me. The title of the post says it all. I want to thank you all for visiting the site this year and continuing to send me links, comments, and suggestions. The site wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the Iron Chef fan community. Almost twice as many people visited the site this year compared to last year. A big part of that was the increased interest generated by something I never expected to see: the first new Japanese episodes of Iron Chef in almost 10 years. And a special thanks goes out to those of you who have sent a contribution to the site. (I can’t say I couldn’t do it without you, but it certainly makes it a lot easier. 😉 )
Here’s to hoping 2013 will bring more excitement from Kitchen Stadium.
Keith