2 Chicago Star Chefs Faced Off On 'Iron Chef: Gauntlet' Sunday Night

By Anthony Todd in Food on May 15, 2017 6:20PM

Chef Sarah Grueneberg on the set of Iron Chef: Gauntlet. Photo via Twitter.

As part of its never-ending attempt to slightly re-jigger TV cooking competitions so that we will continue to watch them, last month the Food Network launched "Iron Chef: Gauntlet." This new variation is a sort of bracketed challenge, where star chefs face off against each other to win a chance to run a "gauntlet" of existing Iron Chefs and, maybe, join their ranks. Stephanie Izard (Girl and the Goat) and Stephanie Grueneberg (Monterverde) faced off last night.

Unlike regular Iron Chef, which pits a different pair of chefs against each other every week, this version starts with a group of seven chefs, eliminating one each episode until only one remains. Grueneberg won top honors in three episodes, but when the final battle happened last night between her and Stephanie Izard, Grueneberg ended up going home. On the plus side for Chicago, the final round of the competition was between two of the city's best female chefs - the city could hardly loose.

Now, Izard goes on to fight all three Iron Chefs: Bobby Flay, Masaharu Morimoto and Michael Symon. If she wins, she'll be an Iron Chef herself.

The final secret ingredient challenge was "Egg," and the Food Network has a recap of the highlights. The episode isn't online yet, but it will be - all previous eps have been posted to YouTube. Keep an eye on the official Youtube page.