TeamSawyer in Kitchen Stadium competing on Iron Chef America

Iron Chef

It was an amazing experience to have witnessed a most exciting Iron Chef battle between the culinary Ninja TeamSawyer, (Sawyer, Seeholzer & Goodman) representing The Greenhouse Tavern vs  the newest Iron Chef Zakarian, in his first battle, and The Next  Iron Chef  contestant Alex Guarneschelli.

I was at the original taping and watched the airing at the party in The Greenhouse Tavern last night. I was interested to see how the editing was done and how it would be presented. Of course I am not a bystander but have a Father’s view concerning  the entire process.

The Energy, Passion, Pride and atmosphere of fun that is the hallmark of anything TeamSawyer does certainly could be felt and was very well represented in the episode. They just work like crazy Jedi Warriors, chatter relentlessly and have great fun while preparing amazing dishes. They cooked at a dizzying pace for one hour. I think an extraordinary energy level (as well as an abundance of tattoos) are prerequisite’s for TeamSawyer. It is as exciting watching them every day in the kitchen as it was watching them on Iron Chef.  What they are able to accomplish in brief periods of time is stunning ( made cheese in 1 hour! A first in Kitchen Stadium). Being at the Greenhouse Tavern last night was like being at a Rock concert in the mosh pit ( apologies to Chef BR). Exhausting, Exciting, and an Exceptionally Enjoyable time.

Now my comments. I had the same feeling as when Roy Jones Jr landed 86 punches to 32 of his Korean opponent at the Seoul Olympics only to astonishingly see the Gold Metal victory awarded to his opponent (after the match the South Korean boxer apologized because he knew Roy won). But that is how it works in the Olympic judging events, Show Biz & even Life. You don’t win all you deserve. Last night was like the viewing the Rolling Stones vs Perry Como ( do people still know who Perry is?).  The contrast was great like a manicured lawn maintained by British caretakers to  free range wild pioneer prairies lived on by energetic adventures, or like watching Kill Bill vs watching The English Patient.

A few insights:

First Course- TeamSawyer’s trio of highly creative ( the Che’vre Goat Salad w Sausage, Zuccinin Mint Fritters & Mint Poached Ohio Sweet Corn  vs raw vegetables & dip that my grandson could make with a nice cocktail from Alex. When one judge said “perfect”  when tasting raw vegetables I knew that the Jedi masters would not win. (I do like raw veggies but never considered them IC worthy no matter how tasty a side of dip was).

Main Course- Oxtail with marrow & mint vs Duck that the nicest thing the judges could say was that it should have “only been looked at” because it was not editable (and they left the course on their plates at the taping).

Judge comments during taping “ we like dessert and drinks” (is that really what Iron Chef is?)

When one judge who, during the taping, kept referring to ICJZ as “Jeffery” said “ I’m sorry but Jeffery is my drinking buddy”.  In the Olympics or at Iron Chef I guess judges do not recuse themselves.

I sat in a place where I could see all the camera shots on video screens and not only were they overwhelmingly of TeamSawyer but all Alton Brown talked about was how creative and unique their dishes were.. So getting edged out in points in creativity and taste was quite “curious”. This also was how the show portrayed the contest as most of ICJZ shots were of Alex making a teal colored cocktail The editing was excellent and did convey the feeling of the event most accurately and the comments were obviously accurate but like any quote if time allowed all of the comments would have been great to hear.

During the tasting not one piece of TeamSawyer’s dishes were left on the plates & they wanted more of the Fish Pie in a wonderful broth of Hake under a  puff pastry and the braised oxtail . They raved on about both.

I certainly will state that I am certain that all of Iron Chef Zakarian’s dishes except for the main course Duck were very delious but mostly the mint was a side add and not part of the process but that may have made it more noticeable. I believe his langostinos were a great tasting dish but shrimp cooked in mint is something I do at home.

At the taping and before I knew the results, I wrote my scores based on what I perceived from the judges comments yet knew how it would shake out. So here is my scores: 51- 45 TeamSawyer or 51-48 (my score card 9/6 taste, 4/5 use, 4/5 plating- TeamS  ICJZ respectively). However I was aware that these scores would not be reflected in the “final tally”.I may have missed something but I have reviewed my original notes and watched the episode 4 times and my conclusions are mostly the same.

So the lesson is – be passionate & love what you are doing, work insanely hard & have great fun competing. All else is a bonus. I am very proud of the work energy & ethic that was portrayed and all the positive Cleveland PR. Jon loves Cleveland & has a most outstanding team. This clearly came through. Ask yourself- what would you rather taste and on whose team would you rather work. TeamSawyer is the real winner in my mind. I must say one other thing that I also state when someone asks since it reflects my views on life and priorities:

“ Jonathon is a great chef but and even better father, husband and son”.