Who deserves to become Iron Chef: The Next Generation?

Maneet Chauhan

Of all the chefs who could become the next generation of Iron Chefs, Maneet Chauhan is the one Food Network viewers know the best. She has been a mainstay on shows such as Chopped and has done more to make Indian cuisine a part of the American food conversation than almost anyone else out there.

Chauhan has competed on the eighth season of Iron Chef, losing to Masaharu Morimoto by four points as well as Season 3 of The Next Iron Chef, where she lasted until Episode 5. But what Chauhan would really bring to the series would be her experience and knowledge as a judge.

She has judged on numerous shows and has years of experience doing it. As a result, she knows exactly what it takes to win. Those skills served her well in the first season of Tournament of Champions where she made it to the semifinal of the East Coast bracket when so many others fell by the wayside due to the blind judging format.

Chauhan could be the wild card, unpredictable Iron Chef that you can be sure no one would want to have to face in Kitchen Stadium.

Marcus Samuelsson

Of all the names on this list, there are few who have earned the respect and admiration of their peers like Marcus Samuelsson.

Red Rooster, his restaurant in Harlem, New York, is widely regarded as one of the biggest reasons for the resurgence of the Harlem neighborhood over the last decade. He has been on almost every network and television show you can think of to talk about food and what it can do beyond just being a source of sustenance for people.

Samuelsson has been a judge on both seasons of Tournament of Champions and when the contestants see him they usually react with a mix of awe and fear.

In other words, Samuelsson would make the perfect Iron Chef.

No, he doesn’t have a tremendous amount of competitive cooking experience, but neither did many other Iron Chefs when they got the call to serve at Kitchen Stadium. There would be a learning curve but when you have the knowledge and skill set that he does, it is more than enough to make up for any gaps in the ins and outs of cooking competitions.

You can be sure that when called to compete, Samuelsson would create something the judges had never seen before and would wow everyone watching. And that’s exactly what an Iron Chef is supposed to do.

So, what do you think Guilty Eaters? Would you watch Iron Chef The Next Generation with these chefs doing the cooking? Who do you think would be a good Iron Chef? Leave a comment below and let us know or join the conversation on our Twitter page.