Jose Garces, a Philadelphia-based chef, was crowned "The Next Iron Chef" in the Sunday finale of the Food Network series.
Garces defeated Jehangir Mehta, executive chef of Graffiti in New York, to take the Iron Chef title. He joins existing Iron Chefs Mario Batali, Cat Cora, Bobby Flay, Masaharu Morimoto and Michael Symon.
"This means everything," said Garces, who owns five Philadelphia restaurants. "It puts me on a different level than most other chefs."
Garces, who describes himself as "ultra competitive," said the "mental aspect" of competing was more challenging than he had expected
An Iron Chef needs to be "not only a great cook, but someone who can captivate an audience with their cooking demeanor and style," he said. "It holds a lot of clout in our industry."
Garces will take on chef Rachel Yang in his first battle as an Iron Chef in an episode that is scheduled to air Jan. 17.
"Chef Jose Garces has been a fierce competitor throughout the entire season of 'The Next Iron Chef,'" said Bob Tuschman, senior vice president of programming and production for the Food Network. "His culinary mastery, laser focus and inventive brilliance will bring a new flair and style to [the team]."
In addition to the show, Garces also has three new restaurant projects in the works, including a market and a beer and sausage concept, which is expected to open next spring in Philadelphia.
Garces, a native of Chicago, owns Amada, Tinto, Distrito, Chifa and Village Whiskey in Philadelphia and is the executive chef at Mercat a la Planxa in Chicago. He also wrote the cookbook "Latin Evolution."
Other contestants on the second season of "The Next Iron Chef" included Amanda Freitag of The Harrison in New York; Brad Farmerie of Double Crown in New York; Dominique Crenn of Luce in San Francisco; Eric Greenspan of The Foundry on Melrose in Los Angeles; Holly Smith of Cafe Juanita in Kirkland, Wash.; Nate Appleman of Pulino's Bar and Pizzeria in New York; Robert Trevino of Budatai in San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Seamus Mullen of Boqueria in New York.
To view videos from "The Next Iron Chef," visit http://www.foodnetwork.com/the-next-iron-chef/index.html.
Contact Pamela Parseghian at [email protected].