Chef Profile: Iron Chef Jose Garces
Chef Jose Garces in his first Iron Chef battle.
The Chef: Jose Garces, winner of the 2009 Next Iron Chef contest. His Garces Restaurant Group operates five restaurants in Philadelphia, including Amada, an Andalusian tapas bar, and Chifa a Peruvian Cantonese restaurant, and Mercat a la Planxa in Chicago. Chef Garces made his Iron Chef debut on Food Network on January 17th.
The Toolbox: Chef Garces is a Boy Scout when it comes to the kitchen. “I was the most prepared tool-wise of all the competitors,” he says. “I brought a fish tackle box and stuffed it full of everything: a smoking gun, a lime juicer, and a lot of different peelers and molds.”
The Most Unusual Thing In His Toolbox: “A fresh wasabi zester,” he says. “It has tiny razor-sharp ridges and makes the perfect wasabi.”
How Competitors on Next Iron Chef Viewed His Tools: “They were always peering into my box,” says Garces. “I did share some tools.”
Chef Garces' beloved Mac 10-inch chef's knife.
His Love Tool: “My Mac 10-inch chef’s knife is indispensable,” he says. “It’s carried me a long way.”
A Tool That Grew Legs: Chef Garces discloses that he had a number of fish scalers that managed to disappear during the Next Iron Chef competition. Hmmmm, who could the guilty party be? Roberto Trevino, who revealed to BehindTheKnife that he carried good luck charms in his toolbox but no fish scaler? Or maybe Holly Smith, who admitted that a side towel from the NIC set just happened to make it into her toolbox? What about Eric Greenspan, the first contestant to be voted off the island because of grasshoppers?
Did A Specific Tool Help Him Win? Nope, sorry, it wasn’t a tool. “I’d been working like an Iron Chef long before the competition,” he says. “I’ve always pushed the envelope to create specials in a half hour or so in the afternoon before dinner service at my restaurants. That training definitely helped me on the show.”
What a Psychologist Would Say About His Toolbox: “This guy’s prepared and ready for war.”
Leave a comment!
Who was your favorite contestant on last season’s Next Iron Chef?
Definitely not Chef Mehta. Other then that, I did not have a real strong favorite this time, but I did like Chef Garces, Chef Trevino and Chef Smith. Each for different reasons. If I had to chose one and only one… I am a female, so Chef Smith.