Is Food Network feeling the heat from Bravo's Top Chef?

Okay, maybe the contestants for Top Chef did not have their best meals.Some like Hung who won , almost lost several times. Still it made for engaging TV and even my son told me about it so I took a look. Well I watched this whole season and it was engaging.
And maybe Bravo had this plot line which hooked people to Top Chef instead of Iron Chef America. Maybe the ongoing stuff. The more reality tone of it or what?
Now tonight is the first of the Iron chef america competition.
Unlike Top Chef, each will have his or her best meals all the time and it will come down to which is better of the best.
Still one of the judges already says in the promo "it's a little dry or not cooked enough." There was way to much of that in Top Chef.

Besh who beat Batalli by 6 is I think is the odds on favorite. He is awesome! I love Cajun.

I was wondering wether Sanchez made the cut as I did not see him in the promo. Sanchez ( his buddy from Cleveland Michael Symon who lost by 8 to Bitalli they were on the food channel with a show on Latin Mex stuff) tied with Morimoto, the first time in Iron Chef America. I could tell it was going to be close by the comments and neither really messed up so I was no surprised. Did the Bass give the edge to either , don't think so. He did make the cut.
Constanteno, who lost by 2 to Batalli, is in the competition.

Should be interesting how it stacks up to Top Chef. I just it's more about the meals and less about the meals not being cooking well enough (a real cop out).

read more below
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Food Net's The Next Iron Chef Contestants Announced: Aaron Sánchez Makes the Cut
Monday, July 16, 2007

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The Food Network is in production on The Next Iron Chef, a reality show on which -- see if you can follow along with us -- the next Iron Chef, to be chef #5 along side Batali, Flay, Morimoto and Cora, will be selected by the judging panel of Michael Ruhlman (noted food writer), Andrew Knowlton (Restaurant Editor of Bon Appétit magazine) and Donatella Arpaia (NY restaurateur). Alton Brown is hosting the show. Today, the contestants were announced and they are as follows:

John Besh (New Orleans, LA) Executive Chef, Restaurant August, Besh Steak, Lüke and La Provence
Chris Cosentino (San Francisco, CA) Executive Chef, Incanto
Jill Davie (Santa Monica, CA) Executive Chef, JOSIE
Traci Des Jardins (San Francisco, CA) Executive Chef & Co-Owner, Jardinière, Mijita and Acme Chophouse
Gavin Kaysen (San Diego, CA) Chef de Cuisine, El Bizcocho at the Rancho Bernardo Inn
Morou Ouattara (Washington, DC) Executive Chef & Owner, Farrah Olivia
Aarón Sánchez (New York, NY) Executive Chef & Owner, Centrico and Paladar
Michael Symon (Cleveland, OH) Executive Chef & Owner, Lola and Lolita

Aaron Sánchez will play the role of your New York favorite. Why any accomplished chef would agree to several weeks of reality competition torture is something that escapes us, but perhaps the show itself will answer that question. In any event, those are your finalists and the show will premiere Sunday, October 7th at 9pm ET/PT on Food Network. On to the official announcement:

THE SECRET INGREDIENT IS… A NEW IRON CHEF!

Eight Top U.S. Chefs to Compete for the Title of “The Next Iron Chef” on New Reality Series; Premieres Sunday, October 7th at 9pm ET/PT on Food Network

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – The title of Iron Chef is synonymous with the world’s foremost culinary masters; and with the announcement of eight finalists, Food Network has begun production for The Next Iron Chef, the newest reality competition created to identify the next master to join the existing exclusive club of superstar chefs Mario Batali, Cat Cora, Bobby Flay and Masaharu Morimoto. Representing some of the nation’s best culinary talent, the finalists will battle for the chance to be crowned the next Iron Chef America. Hosted by Alton Brown (Good Eats, Iron Chef America), The Next Iron Chef will premiere Sunday, October 7th at 9pm ET/PT on Food Network.

After an extensive coast-to-coast search for the most celebrated culinary stars, Bob Tuschman, Senior Vice President, Programming and Production, Food Network, today announces the list of finalists. “We have chosen a group of chefs who we believe to be at the forefront of the culinary landscape, each of whom could stand proudly beside Bobby, Mario, Morimoto and Cat as a new Iron Chef,” says Tuschman. “In our quest, we are looking for an individual to complement the current group and bring a unique blend of innovation, creativity and passion to the show, which is currently the highest-rated program on the network.”

Each boasting years of culinary experience and numerous media accolades and awards from such prestigious organizations as the James Beard Foundation, the eight competitors vying for the Iron Chef title are:

• John Besh (New Orleans, LA) Executive Chef, Restaurant August, Besh Steak, Lüke and La Provence.
• Chris Cosentino (San Francisco, CA) Executive Chef, Incanto
• Jill Davie (Santa Monica, CA) Executive Chef, JOSIE
• Traci Des Jardins (San Francisco, CA) Executive Chef & Co-Owner, Jardinière, Mijita and Acme Chophouse
• Gavin Kaysen (San Diego, CA) Chef de Cuisine, El Bizcocho at the Rancho Bernardo Inn
• Morou Ouattara (Washington, DC) Executive Chef & Owner, Farrah Olivia
• Aarón Sánchez (New York, NY) Executive Chef & Owner, Centrico and Paladar
• Michael Symon (Cleveland, OH) Executive Chef & Owner, Lola and Lolita

Judging this fierce competition will be Michael Ruhlman (James Beard Foundation Award-winning author, cookbook author and food writer), Andrew Knowlton (Restaurant Editor of Bon Appétit magazine) and Donatella Arpaia (restaurateur and owner of acclaimed New York City restaurants davidburke&donatella and Anthos). Judges will narrow the field until the last chef standing is deemed an Iron Chef and he or she will then take their place behind the counter in the famed Kitchen Stadium to compete in the newest season of Iron Chef America.

Top Chef Final

Well I hope Casey would win. But I did not see much hope when all things, she tried for her main dish a pork dish. Most people text messaging -wanted her to win. But the judges were not too kind about her selections as compared to the other two. It was close and Hung won which was okay but the last two almost got "hung out to dry a least a couple of times." I guess unlike Iron Chef America there is not scoring system per sey so we will not know how close it was (I was trying to listen to comments but it was hard to tell.
Still it is too bad that the chefs that tried to be innovative, did not win. Hung was not really all that imaginative. I mean his dessert was a stupid chocolate cake which the judges let him pass with. Oh well

Bravoi Top Chef last week Broccolini did him in

Well sometimes it is not how well you cook but how badly. That seems to be the case for many of the top chef show downs versus Food Channel Iron Chef America.
CJ cooked a bad fish but he topped it off with "as the judges said (- especially Bourdrain and Chef Tom) the inedible broccilini which was an incinerated side dish of broccoli. It was called the WORST dish in all the 3 top chef episode years so far. WOW!!!!

I am pulling for Casey as she has won 2/3 of the last battles and won a MacPro laptop and 2 round trip airline tickets anywhere. I like her attitude and ingenuity and she seemed apologetic but overjoyed to win those rounds.
Hung has just been playing it safe but still passing by . However he won the last round once again playing it safe while Casey did not making CoCo Van in 2 hours which was very hard to do (while the judges liked it very much they seemed to demote her for trying it ).

Tonight the final.

This is the third years of Top Chef on Bravo

So where have I been with this show? I did not really find out about it until my son told me about. I just started to watch it this summer and I am trying to catch up.

It's a combination team format, Iron chef, and more combined.

What I like about Top Chef is the most
(1) the battles that they have to defeat in the gastronic challenges
(2) the insightful talk by the judges why they did or did not like meals, exploits , what happened with meals, challenges etc
(3) you can look at and try the best meals that are posted (see this website)

You can tell the chefs are very good.
How they take on the battles either gets them to the next challenge or gets them bounced.

One of the battles was to to do a BBQ dish etc with what they had and were given.
One tthem did a lobster poached in liquid.She could have grilled it or BBQued it to put it into somewhat of resemblance for this battle but she did not. Guess who lost this round . She did although there were other ones who were nearly as bad.

The bottom line is you don't follow the rules, usually no matter what- you get the short straw. Read the rules for all competitions is the main key.