The Next Iron Chef Season 3 Premieres; Chef Andrew Kirschner Fails the Ingenuity Challenge, the Ringer Rolls On

The Next Iron Chef season 3 premiered Sunday evening on The Food Network. Hosted by Alton Brown and featuring 10 promising, top-notch chefs from around the continent, the first hour of competition featured a sandwich battle, a seaside showdown and the eventual elimination of California Cuisine expert Andrew Kirschner. Here's a recap of all the juicy, tender Next Iron Chef premiere action.

In typical Iron Chef fashion, chairman Mark Dacascos greeted the 10 contestants and welcomed them to their ultimate food odyssey before introducing show host Alton Brown. Alton quickly got the Next Iron Chef competition rolling by revealing the first Secret Ingredient Challenge: Creating an "ingenious sandwich" that tells the judges about themselves.

The contestants got to work, frenetically running about the kitchen in search of their ingredients of choice. Interspersed with action footage were more introductory tidbits about the contenders. Wondering who's vying for the title and accompanying cool gig? Here's a look at the new season of Next Iron Chef contenders:

Marco Canora, NY, American with Italian influence
Bryan Caswell, TX, REEF, big TX enthusiast
Duskie Estes, CA, married with two kids, lives on a farm, believes in farm to table cooking
Ming Tsai, MA, East Meets West, aka the Season 3 Ringer
Marc Forgione, NY, melting pot cuisine, son of The Godfather of American Cuisine
Maneet Chauhan, NY, rejects stereotypes applied to Indian women
Celina Tio, Kansas City, "feel good" American food
Andrew Kirschner, CA, CA cuisine with an Asian flair
Mary Dumont, MA, contemporary American, inspired to cook by the unexpected death of her mother when she was 23
Mario Pagan, PR, "I want to expose Puerto Rican modern cuisine"

At the close of Battle Sandwich, Alton revealed that the contestants -- and not a panel of professional foodies -- would be judging each others' offerings. The news was, of course, unsettling to the chefs, but they forged ahead with presenting their sandwiches to the group. Here's a look at who made what:

Chef Tsai: Teriyaki Tuna
Chef Caswell: Fried Fish
Chef Forgione: Sausage and Peppers
Chef Pagan: Chorizo, Manchego and Onion on French bread
Chef Tio: Breakfast version of a Cuban
Chef Chauhan: Cucumber Mint Chicken
Chef Canora: Tomato and Egg Bruschetta
Chef Dumont: Tempora Fried Dunkable
Chef Estes: Grilled Lamb Meatball with Goat Cheese and Cherries
Chef Kirschner: Pruscuitto, Fontina and Spring Veggie Bruschetta

After the dishes were presented, Alton turned to the contestants and asked them to choose favorites and least favorites. Chefs Canora and Estes gained favorite nods from the majority of contestants, while Chef Pagan earned least favorite nods from many -- including himself -- as did Chef Dumont. Chef Estes earned notoriety for choosing her own dish as her fave. Alton tallied the votes and deemed Chef Estes the winner of the advantage heading into the next round.

Up next, the chefs were herded into a room where they were officially introduced the Next Iron Chef season 3 judges: Michael Symon, who told them to "cook with passion"; Donatella Arpaia, who empasized the need to "stay calm, stay focused and fight"; and Simon Majundar, who said he was looking for an iron chef who would be "honest to the ingredients" and have "integrity".

A recording from the Chairman told them to ponder what food they'd want with them if they were stranded on a desert island, and before a fish could fry (okay, well, it'd been days beforehand), the chefs were led to work stations on a beach. Alton introduced The Next Iron Chef season 3's first elimination challenge, and had the contestants open their coolers, where they each found their ingredient of choice. He went on to explain that the chefs would have 60 minutes to prepare an ingenious dish using just the limited 'pantry' items provided by the Chairman. Chef Estes enjoyed a 5-minute head start, thanks to her earlier Sandwich Battle win, and the others watched enviously as she plucked a collection of prime ingredients from the available stash.

While some chefs -- including advantage winner Chef Estes, who'd chosen a pig -- struggled to prepare their meats within the allotted time, Chef Dumont cruised along thanks to her simpler selection, corn. Most of the chefs had trouble coping with the sand and with their grills, which wasn't much of a shock given the breezy shoreline locale.

The first elimination of the Next Iron Chef season 3 commenced with judgment of Battle Ingenuity. Chef Chauhan presented her turkey dish first, followed by Chef Forgione's free range chicken selection: Chicken under a coconut. Up third was Chef Estes' suckling pig surf and turf, which the judges criticized as lacking in actual pork product. Chef Tsai, who also worked with an entire pig, showed his dish next, explaining that he'd decided to use as much of his pig as possible. Chef Caswell's quick cured Amberjack faced judgment next, followed by Chef Canora's stuffed pork loin. Chef Dumont's corn and coconut broth and chutney were up next, while Chef Kirschner's duck with green papaya and mango salad -- which Donatella exclaimed burned her palate -- followed but didn't impress. Chef Pagan's prawn ceviche and pan fried plantains was called "lovely" by Simon, but gritty by Michael. Chef Tio brought up the rear with her corn-based prawn dish.

The judges met with Alton in the chamber, where they each ruminated over their favorites of the day. Donatella praised Chef Dumont's varied use of corn, while all three sang the praises of Chef Tsai. On the bottom end of the spectrum, all three targeted Chefs Estes' failed use of her own chosen ingredient. Michael and Simon disagreed over Chef Forgione's work, with Michael a fan and Simon definitely not. The scene ended as Alton handed out cards to each judge and asked them to note their top and bottom choices for the challenge.

After a break, The Next Iron Chef season 3 premiere returned with the contestants facing the judges in preparation for the first nail-biting elimination. Chef Chauhan was first to be saved to cook again, and was followed by Chef Canora and the challenge winner, Chef Tsai. (Well, he IS a ringer and his presentation was insanely top notch for week one.) Chef Caswell was also saved, followed by Chef Tio and Chef Forgione. Alton addressed Chef Dumont next, proclaiming her safe but telling her to "get every little thing right" in the future.

With the bottom three remaining, Alton addressed Chef Pagan first, and eventually proclaimed him safe. Chef Kirschner was criticized for his treatment of his duck, while Chef Estes was slammed for not allowing the pig to be the star of her dish. Alton turned to Chef Kirschner, and revealed that his lack of ingenuity had cost him a place in next week's competition. He told Chef Estes to "bone up on meat science" and that she'd made it to week two "by the skin of her teeth".

So with Chef Andrew Kirschner gone, what do the coming weeks of The Next Iron Chef season 3 hold? Tune in to the Food Network and find out for yourself.

Sources

The Next Iron Chef season 3 premiere, Food Network, October 3, 2010