I would definitely recommend Morimoto here in Philly for anyone willing to drop some serious coin for your meal...worth it.

As far as chefs go i would like to see Eric Ripert have a go at this...Charlie Trotter would be interesting too...

George Perrier would be fun to watch have a tantrum on TV... ;

My cousin who graduated from the CIA (cooking one not the spook one) was talking about guys like Flay, Emril, Batalli, and some of the other food network hosts coming to his classes. From what I get from him they are all REALLY exceptional chefs. While I've eaten at only one of the their places, Mario's Lupa, I pretty sure that the cooking will be exceptional.

However, I think going to Americanize it make take some of the really cool parts out. Having the chairman open it with a shit eatting grin after eatting a bell pepper. Trying to figure out how someone is going to make a desert out of a sea cucumber. Lack of dubbing from the Black Belt Theater people. But hell I think it will still be fun to watch.

And Mario rocks with orange docs and blue socks.

Chances are, they will film it in NYC. I mean, It's not as though celebrity chefs are usually COOKING at their restaurants.

Oh, and I don't think Bouloud or Ducasse would ever, in a million years, sign up for that sort of thing.

The used to show it on Fuji TV in SF with just subtitles and no dubbing - it was even weirder

The best thing about the last Iron Chef Amrican was that Bobby Flay kept getting electrocuted!
I hate that guy!

The problem with the Shatner-hosted Iron Chef USA was that it played everything for laughs. It tried to have its tongue in its cheek.

The show doesn't work that. The charm of the Japanese version is that it is deadly serious. They don't joke around. The fate of the world hinges on whether or not that souffle rises or falls.

I think Japan should make Chairman Kaga their PM (though the one they have now does have pretty much the same 'do.)

I stopped watching because most shows are all about freaky ingredients and stuff I've never heard of. I think the best shows are the ones that use plain ingredients like potatoes, or salmon, or beef. If they have a show with rattlesnake testicles, I'm outta there.

I LOVE "Iron Chef". I can't imagine the American version will be as cool. I love the silly dubbing and the way the guy always says, "Kweesan?" (I know I spelled that wrong. I was going for phonetics). My housemates and I said that all the freakin' time when we first started watching it back in the day.

Bobby Flay embarrassed himself and America both times. I wanted to hide when the audience started singing "Nah Nah Nah Nah Hey Hey Hey Goodbye". GOD.

Chairman Kaga is like a Japanese Liberace. I adore him. I also love when he lifts the cloth, announces the ingredient, and my roommate and I say, "Huh? What the hell is THAT?"

Before they even came up with the idea for an American version, we'd all joke that we should make one. We'd have Iron Chef Kraft, Iron Chef Boyardee, Iron Chef Nabisco, and Iron Chef Kellogg's. The ingredients would be stuff like peanut butter, marshmellow fluff, ramen, and popcorn.

Oh man. You should have seen me the day they used eel, back in 2001. As soon as they started talking about eel jelly for crackers, I was OUT of there.

Morimoto was excellent, but dear god was it expensive.

If anyone is ever in NYC and wants to try some Batali cuisine that is relatively inexpensive, check out Otto. It's fabulous and (relatively) reasonably priced.

I'd be too afraid of him cutting off his fingers on national TV.

[Edited on Mar 29, 2004 by legionnaire]

There's also Lupa, which Thursday I think it is has a very affordable lunch special.

My wife and I went there back in Jan for our 5th anniversary. Came to $120 with tip. We got an appitizer, two entrees, two deserts, a bottle of wine, and the soup and salad that came with it all. The quality of the food was hands down second to none. The Salume is homemade and just unbelievable.

I think tony bourdain would make a great host. He would make the best deadpan comments about everything. I think him in a leather jacket and a Ramones tee-shirt is the perfect american version of chairman Kagga.

I just hope we can see at least one or two appearances of my favorite Iron Chef, Chen Kenichi!