Iron Chef America in Vegas! Sort of…

This is a few days late, and for that I must apologize. The Iron Chef America event at Marché Bacchus last Sunday, October 5, was absolutely fabulous. Unfortunately, once I got home afterwards, I had to confront an extremely pressing personal issue that took several days to completely, if sadly, resolve.

So here I am to tell y’all about Iron Chef America, Marché Bacchus, John Curtas, and the fun, food, and wine we had while we watched John make his national television debut as a food judge. He was resplendent in the white suit (if you’ve ever seen him on Channel 8, you’ll know what I’m talking about) and fully up to the task. I thought he looked particularly judgelike and not at all nervous.

You all may remember when I first met John a few months ago. We hit it off immediately, and I’ve become one of his bestest fans, even if we disagree about restaurants, their food, and the importance of service. I still feel that Alex, his ladylove, is an incredibly patient woman and has my undying respect and admiration.

I arrived at Marché Bacchus and almost immediately ran into Sonia - a former fellow student at one of the many Fritz wine classes I’ve taken - and we sat at the same table together while the others in her party took the table next to us. I was very happy that we were able to sit together because I had just purchased a bottle of 2004 Londer Chardonnay, and absolutely dreaded the idea of drinking the entire bottle at one sitting!

Rhonda Wyatt, Jeff’s lovely wife and co-owner of MB, sort of hinted that a white wine would be the proper choice; she had sworn not to reveal the “secret ingredient” but didn’t want people to choose a wine that they wouldn’t enjoy with the (fabulous) meal that they’d have later.

Marché Bacchus transformed into a virtual who’s who of Las Vegas culinary. Thanks to John for introducing me to Robin Leach – “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” - Denise Valdez of Channel 8 news, and Norm Clark (of Norm! in the Review-Journal). There were tables filled with chefs from many of the finer restaurants - off-Strip - in Las Vegas.

For those of you who are not familiar with Iron Chef America, it helps to know a little about the history. “Iron Chef” began in Japan with the premise of several “Iron Chefs,” hand chosen by the badly-coiffed, bizarrely dressed “Chairman” Kaga, would battle in the Kitchen Stadium against other chefs, with the primary idea of introducing new tastes and foods for the Chairman’s enjoyment. Some of the battles were pretty outlandish, but always entertaining. It is badly dubbed and its reruns are currently shown on Fine Living Network. Its original run was about eight years, ending in 2000.

It was a huge success here in the US. As a result, it spawned a series of American spinoff shows that finally

evolved into the current, highly successful, iteration. ICA, as it’s known, is different from the original in several ways: the judges are people who are in the culinary field, there are no ongoing “feuds,” and the new host “Chairman” pronounces “Allez Cuisine” correctly.

Well, back to the festivities.

We were greeted with glasses of Louis Bouillet Crèmant de Bourgogne Rosé sparkling wine. Rhonda and Jeff did the honors, and personally welcomed each guest. The enclosed front patio was the setting for the party, and the early fall weather cooperated. The television was mounted on the wall over the old bar in full view of everyone. In other words, there wasn’t a bad seat in the house.

It was noisy as people greeted one another and enjoyed the wine. Honestly, everyone was so loud that we didn’t get to hear all of John’s remarks on the food. I was standing close to the bar with Robin, Denise, and John and had a great razzing John for some of his comments and truly enjoyed the episode. Since I’m an ICA junkie, I DVR’d it for posterity.

According to John, the competition is very, very real. Make no mistake about it, he said, none of the chefs wants to lose on national TV.

The day is a long one, with John’s day stretching to 8-1/2 hours. It begins early with the chefs being given a series of ingredients, any one of which could be the “secret” ingredient. On the other hand, the judges are told what the secret ingredient will be and allowed to go into the Food TV library to learn as much about the ingredient as they can.

The actual cooking competition is exactly one hour. Period. It is intensive, with no time off for injuries, wounds, sickness, whatever. During this particular competition, the challenger, Chef David Adjey, badly sliced a finger, and other than being given a latex glove to cover the wound (which quickly filled up with blood and had to be replaced), there was no time off for first aid. Like I said. Intensive. Squared.

John was impressed by the passion for their craft that the chefs have … they don’t just cook because it’s “something to do”; they cook because they love it, and they love to see people enjoy their creations.

And then there was the food that was prepared by Marche Bacchus. All dishes were based upon the secret ingredient, which was Sturgeon. Yes, the same Sturgeon that supplies the beautiful and staggeringly expensive caviar. However, the Sturgeon for the ICA episode was farm raised. The flesh of the Sturgeon, as I soon discovered, is not considered to be “fishy”; it is firm and solid, with almost “meaty” texture and feel to it.

The menu was as follows:

Consummé d’Esturgeon - Sturgeon Broth with Coffee-Marinated Mushrooms and Salmon Roe

Koulibiac Destucturé Beurre Blanc - Deconstructed Coulibiac (a fish pie made of Sturgeon) with Beurre Blanc

Esturgeon Grillé sur Salade de Truffes - Grilled Sturgeon on Truffle Salad with Tarragon Sauce

Esturgeon Poêlé Demi Glas - Pan Fried Sturgeon, Smoked Eel, Chanterelles, Pearl Onions, and Escargot Demi Glace

I tasted all except the last dish (I was still in Truffle heaven), and enjoyed every bite.

Please watch for the rerun later in the year, and be sure to tape/DVR/TiVo it!

Thanks to Rhonda and Jeff for hosting this fun event, and I can only hope that another Las Vegan will have the opportunity to enjoy the Iron Chef America experience and share it with us!

Oh, by the way, be sure to check out John Curtas’ great site, EatingLV. And tell him I sent you!

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