Masaharu Morimoto

Masaharu Morimoto
Masaharu Morimoto

Masaharu Morimoto in 2004.
Born May 26, 1955 (1955-05-26) (age 56)
Hiroshima, Japan
Cooking style Japanese Fusion
Education Tamagawa University

Masaharu Morimoto (森本 正治 Morimoto Masaharu?, born May 26, 1955 in Hiroshima, Japan) is a well-known Japanese chef, best known as the third Iron Chef on the Japanese TV cooking show Iron Chef, and an Iron Chef on its spinoff, Iron Chef America. He is also known for his unique style of presenting food.

Morimoto received practical training in sushi and traditional Kaiseki cuisine in Hiroshima, and opened his own restaurant in that city in 1980. Influenced by western cooking styles, he decided to sell his restaurant in 1985 to travel around the United States. His travels further influenced his fusion style of cuisine. He established himself in New York City, and worked in some of Manhattan's prestigious restaurants, including the dining area for Sony Corporation's executive staff and visiting VIPs, the Sony Club, where he was executive chef, and the exclusive Japanese restaurant Nobu, where he was head chef.[1]

Interior of Morimoto Restaurant in Philadelphia, 2003

While at Nobu he got his start on the Iron Chef television show. Several months after the weekly run of Iron Chef ended in 1999, he left Nobu, eventually opening his own Morimoto restaurant in Philadelphia in 2001. He now has a Morimoto restaurant in the Chelsea in New York City, as well as restaurants in Mumbai & New Delhi, named Wasabi and another Morimoto in Boca Raton, Florida.[1] He also partnered with businessmen Paul Ardaji Jr. and Paul Ardaji Sr. in an Asian bistro venture called Pauli Moto's; the initial branch opened in Tyson's Corner, Virginia but has since closed.[2] Morimoto also owns Morimoto XEX in Tokyo that has a Teppanyaki and a sushi floor. Morimoto XEX received a Michelin star in the recent Tokyo Michelin Guide.[3]

Morimoto currently appears as an Iron Chef in Iron Chef America, a spin-off from the original Japanese Iron Chef series.

Chef Morimoto has also developed a line of specialty beers in collaboration with Rogue Ales of Newport, Oregon, consisting of the Imperial Pilsner, Soba Ale, and Black Obi Soba Ale.[4]

In 2010, Masaharu Morimoto opened two additional Morimoto restaurants. In July 2010, he opened a Napa Valley location. In October 2010, a Waikiki, Hawaii location.[5]

On April 11, 2011, Morimoto made his acting debut on the Hawaii Five-0 episode titled "Ma Ke Kahakai" as himself.[6][7]

In April 2011, Morimoto sang at the Thousand Hearts Benefit for Japanese earthquake relief in California.[8]


Contents

Iron Chef

Morimoto's official win/loss/tie record on Iron Chef is 16-7-1. On Iron Chef America he is incorrectly credited with 66 victories due to a typographical error in the credits.[9]

Morimoto's costume on Iron Chef was silver with red trim and a picture on the back of Japanese and American flags tied together in a sheaf. On Iron Chef America, he donned the standard blue Iron Chef outfit with white trim and a patch of the Japanese flag on his sleeve (the other Iron Chefs having flags from their respective countries on their sleeves). In his professional life, to distinguish himself from his on-screen persona, Morimoto wears (purely aesthetic)[citation needed] glasses.

Unlike his predecessor, Koumei Nakamura, Morimoto's introduction as an Iron Chef came with little fanfare, debuting the week following Nakamura's retirement battle against Yukio Hattori. Morimoto was chosen based on his style of cooking, which seemed to border on fusion cuisine, as well as his international experience.

Morimoto was initially reluctant to accept the title of Iron Chef, but accepted fearing the show would hire someone else. Originally, he had planned to incorporate some of the dishes that he had routinely prepared in New York for Iron Chef, but discovered that previous challengers and Iron Chefs had already made similar dishes. He would become known as the Iron Chef whose dishes always seemed to come out of left field — a famous example is his Bell Pepper Sushi in a sushi battle in 1999. He would usually have a bottle of Coca-Cola to drink while cooking on the show; on one occasion he combined it with natto to fashion a dessert dish.[10][11]

Morimoto competed in the first sushi battle in Kitchen Stadium on June 18, 1999 against challenger Keiji Nakazawa. There were five theme ingredients for the battle: tuna, eggs, Kohada (Japanese Gizzard Shad), Anago, and Kanpyō. Both chefs were given time before the battle to properly prepare the sushi rice (sushi-meshi). Morimoto defeated Nakazawa.[12]

Morimoto is also memorable for being the target of Tadamichi Ohta, a vice-chairman of the Japanese Culinary Association and head of the notorious "Ohta Faction" of Japanese chefs, themselves noted for targeting all the Japanese Iron Chefs starting with Michiba. The Ohta faction lost three battles with Chef Morimoto before finally winning one when challenger Seiya Masahara defeated Morimoto in the anglerfish battle. The Ohta faction wasn't happy with just one win, however, and they sent in challenger Yusuke Yamashita, a sake specialist, to battle with Morimoto. At that time, Morimoto had lost two straight battles and no Iron Chef had ever lost three in a row. The theme ingredient for that battle was cod roe and the battle ended in a tie. The overtime theme ingredient was scallions and Morimoto was able to defeat Yamashita in a 3-1 decision.

In his first battle with Bobby Flay in New York, battle rock crab, Morimoto famously declared that Flay was "not a chef" because Flay stood up on his chopping board after completing his dishes. Morimoto went on to defeat Flay in the New York Battle, the results of which Flay contested believing he was "given inferior cooking space and equipment" and because he had cut himself in addition to suffering several electric shocks during the battle.[13] This led to the two chefs competing once again in Japan during the 21st Century Battles. Morimoto lost to Flay in the re-match with Japanese lobster as the theme ingredient.[14] Nevertheless, Flay would become an Iron Chef along with Morimoto in the American spin-off, Iron Chef America. The two would face off a third time with Morimoto defeating Flay during the Holiday Ice Battle (November 2009, Iron Chef America).[15][16][17]

Iron Chef America

Morimoto and Hiroyuki Sakai were the only two original Iron Chefs to appear on Iron Chef America: Battle of the Masters. On this Food Network special series, he lost two battles with American Iron Chefs Mario Batali and Wolfgang Puck but won a tag team battle along with partner Bobby Flay against Batali and Sakai.[18]

When Iron Chef America was greenlighted as a regular series, it moved from Los Angeles to New York. When Puck was unavailable, Morimoto came on board to replace him. His voice is usually dubbed (by American voiceover personality Joe Cipriano[citation needed]) during the judgment phase of the show; during the battle, his use of English is not dubbed, but conversations with his sous-chefs in Japanese are subtitled.[19] In Morimoto's third year at Iron Chef America (2007), he published his first cookbook, "Morimoto: The Art of New Japanese Cooking."[20]

As of August 2011, Morimoto's win/loss/tie record on Iron Chef America is 21-11-1, and his total combined record among both Iron Chef episodes is 37-18-2.

Morimoto opened a restaurant in the Boca Raton Resort & Club[21] in late 2008. He has spent time there ensuring a successful launch of the restaurant.

In The Next Iron Chef season Iron Chef Morimoto made an appearance as a guest judge along with the other Iron Chef Bobby Flay and Iron Chef Cat Cora.[22]

Other Appearances

In the 2010 season of Hell's Kitchen, Iron Chef Morimoto made an appearance on the show teaching the contestants how to make sushi. The contestants then had to replicate his dish.[23]

In Season 8 of Top Chef, Iron Chef Morimoto was the Guest Judge. Each finalist had to make a Last Supper for one of the judges. Finalist Antonia Lofaso prepared a traditional Japanese meal for Morimoto, consisting of miso soup and a sashimi bento.[24]

References

  1. ^ a b "The First Serving at Morimoto - January 25, 2006 - The New York Sun". Nysun.com. http://www.nysun.com/food-drink/first-serving-at-morimoto/26406/. Retrieved 2011-04-17. 
  2. ^ Zibart, Eve (2006-04-14). "Pauli Moto's: Haute In Name Only". washingtonpost.com. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/13/AR2006041300572.html. Retrieved 2011-04-17. 
  3. ^ by Christian CarylFebruary 02, 2008 (2008-02-02). "The New Food Capital Of The World". Newsweek. http://www.newsweek.com/2008/02/02/the-new-food-capital-of-the-world.html. Retrieved 2011-04-17. 
  4. ^ "Rogue Ales". Rogue.com. http://www.rogue.com/beers/beers.php. Retrieved 2011-04-17. 
  5. ^ "Morimoto's experience worth the price - Hawaii News". Staradvertiser.com. 2010-10-06. http://www.staradvertiser.com/columnists/weeklyeater/20101006_Morimotos_experience_worth_the_price.html. Retrieved 2011-04-17. 
  6. ^ Ellen Stodola (2011-04-13). "‘Hawaii Five-O’ recap:'"Ma Ke Kahakai'". TheCelebrityCafe.com. http://thecelebritycafe.com/feature/hawaii-five-o-recap-ma-ke-kahakai-04-13-2011-0. Retrieved 2011-04-17. 
  7. ^ Jeanne Cooper, Special to SFGate, Special to SFGate (2011-04-16). "Island food is the real star of 'Hawaii Five-O'". Sfgate.com. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/04/15/Aloha_Friday_Hawaii_Five-O_Foods.DTL. Retrieved 2011-04-17. 
  8. ^ Zagat Buzz Blog: Morimoto Sings at Japan Earthquake Relief Benefit, April 26, 2011
  9. ^ "The Iron Chef can't win them all " Abilene Reporter-News". Reporternews.com. http://www.reporternews.com/news/2008/aug/11/the-iron-chef-cant-win-them-all/. Retrieved 2011-04-17. 
  10. ^ "Iron Chef Japan: Rice Battle Episode Summary on". Tv.com. http://www.tv.com/iron-chef-japan/rice-battle/episode/238874/summary.html. Retrieved 2011-04-17. 
  11. ^ Musgrove, Mike (2000-06-25). "The Food Network's Entree; Dueling Chefs Leave It to Cleaver in a New York City Showdown". Pqasb.pqarchiver.com. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/55464812.html?dids=55464812:55464812&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jun+25%2C+2000&author=Mike+Musgrove&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=The+Food+Network's+Entree%3B+Dueling+Chefs+Leave+It+to+Cleaver+in+a+New+York+City+Showdown&pqatl=google. Retrieved 2011-04-17. 
  12. ^ "Iron Chef Sushi Battle (1/5)". YouTube. 2006-09-23. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd4f7hR3F7s. Retrieved 2011-04-17. 
  13. ^ Stein, Joel (June 26, 2000). "The Joy Of Cooking". TIME. Retrieved on April 9, 2011.
  14. ^ Marin, Rick (2001-06-06). "Lobsters at Five Paces, Knives and Egos Bared - NYTimes.com". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE0D8133FF935A35755C0A9679C8B63. Retrieved 2011-04-17. 
  15. ^ Bianculli, David (2000-06-23). "Hail To (half Of) The 'Chef' - New York Daily News". Articles.nydailynews.com. http://articles.nydailynews.com/2000-06-23/entertainment/18133624_1_tiny-tim-mystery-ingredient-hour. Retrieved 2011-04-17. 
  16. ^ Marcus, Erica (2005-01-15). "Japan's food fight hits America - The Boston Globe". Boston.com. http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2005/01/15/japans_food_fight_hits_america/. Retrieved 2011-04-17. 
  17. ^ Marin, Rick (2001-06-06). "Lobsters at Five Paces, Knives and Egos Bared - NYTimes.com". Select.nytimes.com. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50711F9385B0C758CDDAF0894D9404482. Retrieved 2011-04-17. 
  18. ^ Haughton, Natalie (Apr 25, 2004). "Food Network's 'Iron Chef' to stick as close as possible to Japanese show". Los Angeles Daily News. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=u5lIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gQoNAAAAIBAJ&pg=4852,4639787&dq=masaharu+morimoto+iron-chef-america&hl=en. Retrieved 17 April 2011. 
  19. ^ "" + artTitle.replace("-","") + " - " + "The Hofstra Chronicle" + " - " + "B-Section" + "". Hofstrachronicle.com. http://www.hofstrachronicle.com/2.1154/next-iron-chef-stirs-up-drama-1.54318. Retrieved 2011-04-17. 
  20. ^ Denn, Rebekah (2007-10-02). "Iron Chef Morimoto makes the leap from TV star to cookbook author". seattlepi.com. http://www.seattlepi.com/default/article/Iron-Chef-Morimoto-makes-the-leap-from-TV-star-to-1251342.php. Retrieved 2011-04-17. 
  21. ^ "Boca Raton Restaurants & South Florida Fine Dining - Boca Raton Resort & Club". Bocaresort.com. http://www.bocaresort.com/dining/morimoto.cfm. Retrieved 2011-04-17. 
  22. ^ By Joanne Chen (2007-11-12). "Michael Symon: Iron Chef! - Nov. 12, 2007". Money.cnn.com. http://money.cnn.com/2007/11/12/smbusiness/iron_chef_episode_6.fsb/index.htm. Retrieved 2011-04-17. 
  23. ^ "Wednesday returning shows: 'Modern Family,' 'Hell's Kitchen' and more | Dallas-Fort Worth TV News and Reviews - Entertainment News for Dallas, Texas - The Dallas Morning News". Dallasnews.com. 2010-09-22. http://www.dallasnews.com/entertainment/television/headlines/20100922-Wednesday-returning-shows-Modern-1004.ece. Retrieved 2011-04-17. 
  24. ^ Tharp, Sharon (2011-03-23). "'Top Chef: All-Stars' Recap: "Last Supper"". Ology. http://www.ology.com/screen/top-chef-all-stars-recap-last-supper. Retrieved 2011-04-17. 

External links

Preceded by
Koumei Nakamura		 Iron Chef Japanese
February 27, 1998 - September 24, 1999		 Succeeded by
None

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Morimoto — (森本) is a family name in the Japanese language and the meaning is (one who lives) near the forest’, or ‘(one who is) also may refer to: Pedro Ken Morimoto, a Brazillian football midfielder Carlos Morimoto, a Brazilian software engineer and author …   Wikipedia

  • The Next Iron Chef — Who will climb the ranks to culinary greatness? Format Reality, Cooking Starring Alton Brown Mark Dacascos …   Wikipedia

  • Iron Chef America — Infobox Television show name = Iron Chef America caption = Iron Chef America logo show name 2 = Iron Chef America: The Series genre = Reality, Cooking creator = director = creative director = presenter = Alton Brown Kevin Brauch starring = Mario… …   Wikipedia

  • Iron Chef — This article is about the Japanese cooking show. For the American version, see Iron Chef America. For the British version, see Iron Chef UK. For the Australian version, see Iron Chef Australia. Iron Chef The seven Iron Chefs and Chairman Kaga in… …   Wikipedia

  • Bobby Flay — Cooking demonstration in Green Bay, Wisconsin Born Robert William Flay December 10, 1964 (1964 12 10) (age 46) New York City, New York, U.S …   Wikipedia

  • Rokusaburo Michiba — Born 3 January 1931 (1931 01 03) (age 80) Kaga, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan Cooking style Japanese cuisine Television show(s) …   Wikipedia

  • Iron Chef — Díme lo que comes, y te diré que eres. Brillat Savarin Con estas palabras comienza cada programa de Iron Chef, un programa de la televisión japonesa producido y transmitido por Fuji TV. Iron Chef se traduce al español como Cocinero de Hierro . El …   Wikipedia Español

  • Aarón Sanchez — (born 1956) is a ;noted second generation Latin chef in New York City, the Executive Chef Owner of the restaurants Centrico and Paladar. He has appeared on Iron Chef America , and is one of the few chefs whose battles have ended in a draw, tying… …   Wikipedia

  • Akira Back — is a Las Vegas chef of Korean heritage and former professional snowboarder.cite web | last = Womack | first = Jeremy | title = The Light Group’s Chef Akira Back Battles on Iron Chef America | date = 2008 03 13 | url =… …   Wikipedia

  • Iron Chef — est une émission de télévision japonaise produite par FujiTV. Le titre original est Ryōri no Tetsujin (料理の鉄人, Ryōri no Tetsujin?). L émission de télévision est diffusée la première fois le 10 octobre 1993, elle dure une heure et demie avec des… …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”