If I said the words “Whose cuisine reigns supreme?” I would hazard a guess that most of you would know that I was quoting a line from the television show Iron Chef. You may also know the names of the Iron Chefs who grace our television screens every Saturday night for seemingly the last few decades (do they ever run out of episodes?). The studious may even know which of the three main chefs has the highest percentage of wins over losses (it is Iron Chef Japanese Michiba at 86.5% followed by Iron Chef French Sakai at 83% and Iron Chef Chinese Chen at 76%). And knowing that they have a loyal fan base, each year the Iron Chefs visit Australia to hold some very special dinner. For $485 per person you can snag a place at a table and for $585 you can get yourself a seat at a VIP table within sweating distance of the chefs.
Each year the event always seems a little different and they appear to have heeded some of the criticism of the last Sydney event in which only one course from each Iron Chef was presented. This year diners receive two courses from each Iron Chef plus two courses and canapes from the RACV chef Mark Normoyle. This is Melbourne’s first Iron Chef dinner and expectations are high and diners are excited. Held in the ballroom of the RACV it is a little function room like and reminds me of the Hilton last year although here we do get windows and a view. I still loved the room at 2007 Observatory Hotel the best for atmosphere as the over the top opulence matches the dramatic campness of the television show.
I wish I could have brought you some pictures of the canapes and they looked wonderful but in the crush every time I spotted a tray heading in my direction, by the time it got to me it was empty! But before I know it we hear the sounds of the taiko drummers and head inside.
There’s something to be said about VIP seating. And when your seat is right in front of the stage at Iron Chef you realise what a whalloping good view you have of the chefs. There are two huge screens with a Brillat Savarin quote “Tell me what you eat, and I’ll tell you who you are” and the taiko drummers have taken centre sage and are beating out a rhythm that gets the crowds excited. This is Melbourne’s first Iron Chef event and diners appear to be thrilled to be there.
Iron Chef Sakai
They’re not mucking about tonight, Simon Thomsen is up on stage in his black velvet mandarin jacket and he is playing a less flamboyant Chairman Kaga. He bites into a fruit with gusto and introduces Iron Chef French Sakai who takes his place in front of his picture. He stands holding a pear and waves to the crowd who are cheering enthusiastically. Then a cleaver wielding smiling Iron Chef Chinese Chen comes to take a bow to just as much applause then followed by the RACV’s chef Mark Normoyle.
Iron Chef Chen
“Gonna Fly Now” from Rocky sounds and the Iron Chefs do a lap around the room. I’m convinced Sakai does it just to check out the pretty girls in the audience as he likes to do. The Iron Chefs are ageless and having a read of their bios I am somewhat surprised to learn that Sakai is 69 years old and Chen is 55 yet they look exactly like they did on the television show which was filmed from 1992-1999.
Chef Mark Normoyle
Sakai looking for girls again!
Iron Chef Sakai is reflected on the screen back in the kitchen where we get glimpses throughout the night of the action happening in the kitchen. They tell us that there are 80 chefs working in the kitchen, many who have just come in on an unpaid volunteer basis just to have the chance to work with the Iron Chefs.
Video of the first course being prepared
And Sakai busy at work
Sakai explains the dish that he has prepared and host Mayumi Uchida translates for him. For this dish they have used 9,000 kilos of Western Australian marron and $2,000 worth of caviar and each guest will get about ten dollar’s worth of caviar in their martini glass. They show a short video of the kitchen preparing the dish that was filmed earlier. Interestingly, the glasses are filled while within plastic lined cardboard boxes and with a prompt the tens of white gloved waiters head towards the kitchen.
Iron Chef Sakai: Marron and pearl meat salad on vichyssoise, mango, consomme jelly, caviar served with 2009 Phillip Shaw No. 11 Chardonnay, Orange
A few minutes later a martini glass filled with Iron Chef Sakai’s dish arrives. There are plump morsels of wonderfully cooked marron-sweet and tender and not chewy at all. The costly pearl meat has a wonderful texture, softer than marron and lobster and spongier but not wet and it seems to be the ingredient that many are using nowadays. There are waves of delicately flavoured consomme jelly and a creamy cold vichyssoise soup although the mango flavour is mild in mine and I don’t taste much of it. This dish is really an exercise in slippery textures and it is similar to the first course that he made last year in Sydney.
Iron Chef Sakai and Adam Liaw
They scan the crowd for opinions on the dish and they settle upon Adam Liaw and his girlfriend Asami Fujitsuka who are sitting next to me. Sakai appeared on Masterchef and judged Liaw’s dish and he said that it was good but had some way to go. Liaw is diplomatic when it comes to judging Sakai’s dish and says that when he tried it, he realised that he still had some way to go.
It’s game time as all of these Iron Chef events have had an element of games and fun and Iron Chef Sakai peruses for crowd for girls… ahem I mean judges. Thomsen asks for a giggling female and people that can do American accents before Sakai chooses two women and one man to come back into the kitchen to participate in a challenge.
Iron Chef Chen and his son on the left
The screen flickers again and this time it is Iron Chef Chen. If Sakai is girl mad, Chen is golf mad and they ask him what his handicap is (six by the way) and when Thomsen says that is the Tiger Woods of cooking Chen quickly says “No No no Tiger Woods” (although we’re not sure if he is being modest or averse to being associated with the promiscuous Woods!). We watch some video of Iron Chef Chen and his son who travels with him to all of these events. For this dish, they are using a Victorian abalone.
Chen’s challenge to the three contestants is to plate up the next dish. Ever the clown Chen shows us by plating up the liver sauce haphazardly banging the spoon on the plate and making a mess. He then challenges the three to better his work. The three have 30 seconds in which to do it and they all do a great job. He draws out the suspense for the three by stopping at each one and lingering before declaring the gentleman Salvatore the winner. “Salvatore? Sal…va…to…re?” he says in wondernment of the winner’s name.
A very happy winner!
Iron Chef Chen: Abalone fritters with seaweed salad and roe sauce served with 2010 Petaluma Bridgewater Mill Pinot Grigio, Adelaide Hills, SA
Our white gloved waiters bring out our next dish. It’s the abalone served with the abalone liver or roe sauce and a seaweed salad. This was the dish that many swooned over and out of the evening this was my favourite dish. I’m usually nonplussed about abalone. For the cost I usually go for lobster instead but this is divinely tender. The item that really makes this dish is the liver sauce which is so complex and rich and the seaweed salad served in an abalone shell has a wonderfully tingly peppery taste to it. The bread roll which is soft inside but crispy and deep fried on the outside is the perfect foil for the moreish sauce. And Iron Chef Chen tells us all to use the bread for the sauce.
The correct finger placement for holding a ladle-with index finger against the back of the handle
They bring out a large prep table with a wok and select three more members of the audience to help out. Now that everyone has had a good try of the wines and people lose their inhibitions, hands go up enthusiastically and three are chosen. Iron Chef Chen shows them the correct way to hold a wok and correct finger placement and then shows them how to toss dry rice in a wok. The three have a go and there’s soon a winner!
Iron Chef Sakai then comes out to talk about his dish. Thomsen asks him what a French chef is doing using Italian ingredients like white balsamic vinegar and he answers “I’m a professional!”. We go to another quick video of Sakai preparing his dish and as smooth as silk our meals come out straight away which is perfect for instant gratifiers like me.
Iron Chef Sakai: Slow cooked hapuka, white balasamic shellfish jus and fresh herbs served with 2008 Henschke Louis Semillon, Eden Valley, SA
Now before I start babbling incoherently, this dish was a “most pleasing aroma like walking through a delicious herb garden in Italy”. Not too crazy fruity right? But it certainly did. The hapuka, a New Zealand white fish is tender and juicy and is paired with sauteed capsicum, potato and carrot and is served in a slightly tangy shellfish jus. If there was one criticism it would be that my slender piece of Hapuka was very small and out of proportion with the rest of the dish and the amount of the vegetables.
Iron Chef Chen is somewhere in there!
Even Iron Chef Sakai is busy taking photos
There is a bit of a break in the proceedings and they bring out a warmed bread roll to tide us over although it does feel a little odd having bread at this juncture. The next course is from the RACV’s Mark Normoyle so the Iron Chefs take a breather and by breather I mean pose for numerous photos. After a while we cut to a video of chef Mark who is in the kitchen showing us how to cook the Victorian beef that comes in the next course. He sears it on all sides and explains that the dish will come with a variety of mushroom textures.
Chef Mark Normoyle: Porcini roasted aged Angus sirloin, taste and textures of mushroom, cassava root fries, black garlic jus served with 2001 Redbank Winery Sally’s Paddock, Pyrenees Range, Vic
Now I know how hard it is to do beef for 250 people. That’s why Mr NQN and I didn’t have a beef course at our wedding. It always ends up tough and after wedding after wedding of tough beef we spare our guests a chewy gumboot texture dinner. So I was interested to see how they would fare in serving us beef, hopefully medium rare and tender. When the beef comes out it looks fantastic. Medium rare-check! Tender-check! Delicious-check! It’s most impressive and the mushrooms come as a duxelle puree, sauteed, deep fried and withered and in a powder which is probably the only texture I didn’t like as it reminded me of cream of mushroom cup-a -soup (sorry, but honestly that was really the first thing I thought of). The cassava root fries and gloriously crispy and the black garlic jus gives the dish a delicious mysterious quality. And there is a single clove of the black garlic which is sweet and intense.
A yin yang plate of sancho pepper is put down on the table and the waiter explains that it is very hot so we need to exercise caution. The taste is fiery and tingly and lingers on the tongue and lips. And what is about to happen? Well Iron Chef Chen is about to demonstrate his famous Mapo tofu! This is the dish that his father brought to Japan and was famous for. Mapo tofu is a heady, spicy, flavoursome mix of pork mince, garlic, szechuan oil, soy bean paste, sansho pepper and soft tofu.
In fact he tells us that this tofu was made only a few days before in Queensland by a third generation tofu maker who flew the tofu down for this event. He explains that the tofu is boiled prior to cooking in the wok as it 1) helps the tofu become plump and juicy and 2) it stops the tofu from losing moisture. He demonstrates the dish ladling in ingredient after ingredient including green onions and interestingly a couple of ladles full of oil once the deep rich scarlet colour is reached.
Iron Chef Chen, ever the comedian pulling faces
Before he comes over to give us a smell of the delicious aroma
Iron Chef Chen: Kenichi’s Mapo tofu served with 2010 Bass Phillip Rose Pinot Noir, Gisspland, Vic
Our plate comes out with a generous portion of mapo tofu and steamed Japanese rice. I sprinkle the sansho pepper over as if it were rare fairy dust and take a spoonful. Oh yes I should mention the spoons. The Chinese soup spoons sat on a square of paper on which there is a copy of the mapo tofu recipe. It is not complete according to Asami but it’s a start! The tofu is so deeply flavoured and spicy it is a pleasure to eat it and then breathe hot dragon’s breath while waiting for your taste buds to calm down and then dig in again. The tofu is incredibly soft and the fine mince and flavours meld beautifully together.
Don Pachi Geisha cold drip coffee extracted over 8 hours by Sensory Lab
A small dark brown bottle is placed at each of our places. We’re curious, is it for dessert? Well apparently not, it’s the siphon coffee which is a popular Japanese method of making coffee. it takes Don Pachi 8 hours to make 1 litre of coffee in this cold drip style which is made using room temperature water. The coffee used is from Panama and is called Geisha and is a rare and expensive coffee that retails at $300 a kilo. At the Sensory lab at David Jones two cups of the coffee will cost $10. I pop it in my bag to take home with me as it is getting late and I need my sleep!
Chef Mark Normoyle: Gold, silver and chocolate bar, crushed honeycomb, silky raspberry mousse served with 2010 Mitchelton Botrytis Riesling, Nagambie, Vic
“I hope you like chocolate” Thomsen says and explains that we are about to get a whole lot of it. I’m not complaining. First to come out is chef Mark Normoyle’s dessert, a frozen chocolate parfarit that is enrobed in glossy chocolate and filled with crunchy feuilletine pieces which gives it a wonderful unexpected crunch. On top is not quite a raspberry mousse but more a stripe of raspberry gel and on the side are luminescent powder coated cocoa nibs. And would you call me a guts if I told you I managed to eat half of this even after all of this food? 
Chocolate petit four centrepiece
And then a final course, a chocolate course of petit fours to accompany the coffee. The Japanese kanji character for Happiness is rendered in chocolate and there are macarons and truffles to finish off the evening. I can barely fit anything else in after semi demolishing the dessert so I nibble on a macaron (plain almond). Well of course I had to…
All of the chefs come out to take a bow alongside the Iron Chefs. Some of them are holding cameras and video cameras eager to capture this moment.
Iron Chef Chen’s son
Outside the venue there is a huge queue of people that want their photo taken with the Iron Chefs. I get into the lift where there is a man holding the entire chocolate centrepiece. “I’m bringing it home for the girls” he says sheepishly.
So tell me Dear Reader, do you watch the Iron Chef show? And if you could choose any Iron Chef to cook for you, which one would it be?
And to see posts on the previous dinners:
Iron Chef Dinner 2007 at the Observatory Hotel
Iron Chef Dinner 2010 at the Hilton
NQN travelled to Melbourne and a guest of Tourism Victoria and attended the event as a guest of JTB.
Iron Chef Dinner
RACV City Club, 501 Bourke Street, Melbourne, Vic
http://www.ironchefevent.com.au/
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58 Comments | Add your own
I prefer the old iron chef. the one before the nobu guy…
Oh my gosh! I love Iron Chef! I even love the American one!! I’d absolutely LOVE to go to an event like this, how amazing! I’d take any of them to cook for me, any day! Thank you for such a beautifully photographed and written piece – I almost felt like I was there with you!
oooh I love Iron Chef!!!
Every time I see the Iron Chefs I get giddy. You make the experience sound absolutely wonderful. Hopefully I’ll be able to see them myself one day
This looks like it was fun. I love how dramatic the Iron Chefs seem next to the challengers. I occasionally watch Iron Chef for a laugh (the voice over is clasic), but am not a fervent follower.
omg you lucky thing you got to go!!
Aaah, so exciting and so much fun, Lorraine! Everything looks great and that chocolate petit four centrepiece is really a masterpiece!
Whoa! Those Iron Chefs really DO look the same, and no way that Sakai is almost 70! He doesn’t look even 60!
I would totally want to go to this event (and I mean, who wouldn’t?) but since my parents “reign supreme” over me (lol) they probably won’t agree to fork out the couple of hundred so that I can go to a nice dinner
WOW. What a night! Looks like Melbourne really did a stella effort with the event.
I love nothing more than a lazy Saturday night at home watching reruns of Iron Chef. Their skills are incredible. Not sure I could choose between Sakai and Chen, but if pressed, I’d go Sakai. Another triumph Lorraine – you go girl!
Love that they’ve got all the set and props – sounds like a fantastic event to have been at!
What an experience! I’ve never heard of an Iron Chef Australia dining opportunity like this before… lucky you Lorraine and thanks for writing up your evening with wonderful photos to show case the extraordinary food consumed. I love Iron Chef and am particularly fond of Morimoto’s style but Sakai and Chen are phenomenal we well. All of the Iron chef’s have climbed a huge pinnacle in their careers and are superbly entertaining and educational to watch. Glad you enjoyed your evening xx
Iron chef is great … always makes me laugh
I also enjoy watching Iron Chef. The dishes they conjure up are phenomenal, ones I can only dream about. Glad you had a great time, would have been spectacular.
It may be camp!
! It may be cult! 
! But from the time I ‘dicovered’ the show years ago I have been hooked & have even put stuff off to watch it! A bit of a ‘show-off’ dinner this, of course, and ‘cashing in’ on past glories, but I would have given a’thing to sit on your shoulder!! I liked all the chefs, tho’ Morimoto’s ‘brashness’ s’times got to me. To have one of them cook for me – Chen, for sure, as besides v special Szechwan food I would be sure to meet a very lovely human being with a wonderful sense of humour.
how fantastic, what a fun night!
I love the Iron Chefs!! Especially Sakai. I’m SO amazed about how remarkably young they both look. I can’t believe Sakai is almost 70! He looks like 50 if anything… What a wonderful meal you had, I’m so jealous!
Jealous!! Love Chen the most – that gorgeous smile!!!!!!
Iron Chefs are pretty amazing & I love the “dad” taking the chocolate centre piece home for the girls..
WOOOT! It would’ve been awesome eating dishes cooked by one other than an Iron Chef!
What an amazing evening!!!
It sounds like pure theatrics at its best
and lucky you with a front row seat.
Great story!
Haha the guy in the lift reminds me of the scavengers who took all the table floral displays at the end of my brother’s wedding!
Iron Chef is so popular here and I am a big fan. First trip I went to Japan I was asking a few of my fellow work friends about it. Funnily one looked at me quite blankly which I wasn’t expecting. Apparently much more popular here than it every was there.
WOW a GREAT experience, TRUE!
Sakai is my fave too!
Colourfully exciting in a mischievious way!
Always humble and graceful in his own way!
Thanks for the enjoyable read!
Am savilvating from this unique feed! WHOO HOO!
I’m so jealous Lorraine! I just adore Chef Chen – he’s sooo cute
SO JEALOUS
That is all
Oh I’m so glad you get invited to all these places. Your photos and commentary make me feel like I was there.
What a wonderful experience!
We had the same dilemma about beef at our wedding – the solution was slow cooked beef cheek…although our restaurant was pretty amazing to be able to do that! I like Iron Chef but I don’t know if I have a favourite one – maybe Sakai?
I love how much fun the Iron Chefs are still having! It clearly pervades every event they do… also, you’ll always be a VIP in my heart
I remember watching when I was living in Tokyo 15 years ago… and Sakai and Chen have hardly changed!!! Wow!
What an experience Lorraine, but it would have been a pretty hard one for a vegetarian
!
On another note, love your hot choc cake
!!
ciao
A.
YAY, what an amazing experience. SOOOOOOOOOO jealous. I dont have a fav, I always get so caught up in how the chef brain works to create. Fascinating stuff. Ha, and imagine being a 3rd generation Tofu maker, so different and such a cool title.
My brother and I often play iron chef, both being chefs, we have a ball.
Thanks for the taking me to the event. Looks amazing.
Overcooked beef is awful – looks like they did a fantastic job at this event.
Haha I can’t believe you didn’t finish dessert!
And can you believe I’ve never watched Iron Chef?
What an exciting experience! Those dishes look absolutely fabulous and the idea of actually meeting the real Iron Chefs is amazing!
Ohhhh lucky girl! The event sounds great! I love that they were actually showing the kitchen on a screen! Amazing food!
That tofu looks magnificent ! glad you had a great time
So many emotions to process- envy, jealousy, yearning, green-eyed… oh they’re all the same!
I love Iron Chef, and Chef Chen is my absolute favourite. Please, Please, Please,etc, share the recipe for Mapo Tofu, it’s always intrigued me and the judges always get so excited when he makes it on Iron Chef.
When I heard of the 2000kgs of caviar, I literally imagined a swimming pool of it, with me floating in it!
And lastly, where oh where can I volenteer to be one of the chefs next time? I will just sweep the floors to be next to the Iron Chefs, maybe that way I might bask in some of their awesomness through osmosis?
Just pass me those chocolate desserts, pleeeeeease!!
What a great experience, and beautifully shared with us who can only read about such moments, thank you. I am an Iron Chef tragic, so thoroughly enjoyed reading. Squisson?!
It does look like an amazing night but I am very shocked at the price of this dinner – those are crazy prices! You could have two meals at The Fat Duck for that price.
I love Iron Chef Sakai, he is such a joker! Seems like a wonderful event (I remember your post from last year), but definitely not something I’d be able to afford I must say.
But I’m glad you went so we can all hear and read about it.
hah, I would have snaggled the chocolate centrepiece too!
I’m so friggin jealous!!!!!!!! Waaaaa.. you’re such a lucky woman !!!
You ‘managed’ half a dessert? I’m disappointed in you!
What an amazing experience! I would love to taste the dessert.
Sakai for sure! If I had to choose from the American one, Mario Batali. This would have been AMAZING to be at. Just awesome. I don’t know how you could top an evening like that!
So lucky! I wanted to go to that event but I think it was wayyy too expensive for me.
I love the show, I’ve actually downloaded all of the episodes I could find online. My favourite Iron Chef was Michiba but he retired. I like all of them really, whoever can cook me good food
Another fun Iron Chef event! I didn’t know Chen was a golfer. That’s so great. The food looks amazing. I’m a big fan of mapo tofu, so that was nice to see.
I love iron chef. I used to watch the late reruns while expecting my first child, when i couldn’t sleep. a wonderful evening, thanks for sharing and including great shots. Look like so much fun!
sweetlife
I’ve never actually watched the show but now I’m intrigued.
I would never call you a guts!
Have always loved Iron Chef (yes, I watch the American one here too). Sakai is my favorite. When I went to Japan in the 90′s I was so disappointed I couldn’t find any Iron Chef stuff for sale. Wow, they haven’t changed a bit from back then!
This was our second Iron Chef Event, fabulous evening, each course was tantalizing!!! Chef Mark’s dish was also a winner!!!
What a great experience! I love Iron Chef
I can’t believe Iron Chef Sakai is 69 years old! Wow! He looks amazing..
Hello Loraine, I must agree it certainly was a great table to be seated at! An absolute treat for Iron Chef fans. Of coarse im a fan of the show and my two favorite chefs Sakai and Chen didnt dissapoint! I must say that some of my Japanese friends (young & old) were certainly very surprised after seeing my pics online and that would suggest that the Iron Chefs are still very well thought of in Japan even years after the show was finished. I will certainly recomend this event to any one who loves Iron chef, food, or even the Japanese culture! and my thanks to you and all our table guests for their great company, it was very nice to be able to enjoy this event with you all
And a big thanks to Sakai, Chen and Mark for their culinary treasures!
Hi Michelle-They are part of the old Iron chef
Hi jess-hehe I’ve only seen a couple of episodes of the American one but it didn’t have that campness that I like. Thank you Jess! That’s exactly what I try to do so thank you for the lovely compliment
Hi Lisa-Me too!:)
Hi Tina-hehe me too
Thank you! Yes they will no doubt come back! 
Hi Cakelaw-Thanks, it was so much fun
I know they are such dramatic souls! 
I love those voiceovers. Yes it’s not often one gets to stay in on a Saturday night is it?! 
Hi Iron Chef Shellie-Yes I felt very fortunate
Hi Faith-I know, I don’t blame that guy for taking it with him!
Hi B-I know, what is in the water there? it’s amazing!
Ahhh yes it is quite expensive a ticket isn’t it. But to have them there is amazing 
Hi Di-licious-They sure did! I know, it’s good that it’s on on a Sat night! Thanks so much Di!
Hi Tina-yes to complete the whole experience no doubt!
Hi Merryn-Yes it only happens once a year and sells out very quickly! Thank you so much Merryn! I know it’s hard to choose a favourite isn’t it, they all bring something unique to the show
Thank you! 
xxx
Hi Monica-hehe doesn’t it!
Hi Antonietta-I know, they have such imagination and skill!
Thanks, it was wonderful!
Hi EHA-well you sound like a great fan of the show!
I don’t recall seeing too many battles with Morimoto though, must keep an eye out! Chen’s food is amazing. Ever since I tried it he has been my favourite 
Hi muppy-Thanks Muppy!
Hi Phuoc-Yes they haven’t aged a bit, it’s quite amazing isn’t it! Thanks!
It was fantastic 
Hi Ellen-he’s so charmingly funny too!
Hi madbunny-I know! I bet he was popular that night!
Hi Adrian-yes any of them making a dish would be great!
Hi GourmetGetaways-Thanks so much! Yes they really tried to convey the show atmosphere
Thank you!
Hi Jen-Oh no really?
Hi Sara-Really? isn’t that funny? Although I have heard the same that they’re super popular here but not as much in other countries!
Hi Joanne-Thanks Joanne! Hehe thanks for the rhyme!
Hi Christie-he’s adorable and his food is amazing!
hi Esz-hehe!
Hi Maureen-Thank you so much Maureen, that is really nice of you to say!
Hi Leah-Ahh that’s a great choice! It wasn’t offered to us but had we been offered it that would have been the perfect solution!
Hi Hannah-yes they seem to have this great rapport! Aww thanks darling!
Hi Alessandra-yes it’s quite remarkable isn’t it!
Yes although I wonder if they could do something special. Although it probably wouldn’t be done by an Iron chef then. Thanks A!
Hi Anna-Thanks Anna, it was incredible
I know, I thought the same about the tofu maker-surely there aren’t many that can say that! Haha that sounds very cute! Who wins more often? You’re very welcome! 
Hi Chanel-yes when it’s overcooked it’s like shoe leather! I couldn’t -there was so much food! Oh really?
Hi Midge-Thanks Midge!
Yes it really made it an amazing night!
Hi Manu-Thank you Manu! Yes that was very cool indeed
Hi linda-thanks Linda! I can still taste that tofu-drool!
Hi InTolerantChef-hehe! Well the recipe is in Japanese and it’s not complete. I don’t think he would share the exact recipe but who knows! There is a cookbook out there! Hehe now that would be amazing to see wouldn’t it? I think if you contact the restaurant that they hold it in they’ll be your best bet!
Hi Matilda-Haha I wish I had taken one!
Hi ck-Thanks, it was! Aww you are too kind!
Hi Gourmet Chick-Well funny you mention that as Heston recently cooked in NZ and I think the prices were higher than that -I don’t remember the exact amount but it was over $1000 as they had a 3 night package.
Hi Su-yin-It was wonderful
Oh well, perhaps one day though! 
Thank you!
Hi YaYa-haha I wish I had!
Hi msihua-Thank you
Hi Phunk-hehe did you see how much food there was?
Hi Gourmetician-Thank you! Yes the dessert was wonderful
Hi Anna-Oh I haven’t yet seen him on that. I have only seen two episodes from the US version.
Hi Akika-Ahh yes it was one of those events that I’m sure a lot ummed and ahhed about. Oh great! Yes he has retired but you can still go to his restaurant if you visit tokyo. His daughter manages it!
Hi lisa-It was!
Apparently he is a very keen one! 
Mmm that was amazing!
Hi sweetlife-Oh what a great way to pass the time! You’re more than welcome!
Hi Claire-Oh you should take a look if you’re home on a Sat night, it’s great, especially the voice overs
Aww thank you!
Hi Mrs. L-Yes they don’t seem to have much there do they? I wonder if it was popular in Japan as it was here? I mean we’re mad for it!
Hi Melissa-Wonderful!
And yes his dishes really impressed!
Hi Nic-Me too, it’s such a fun show
Hi Celia-haha I think chasing girls keeps him young
Hi Jason-Nice to hear from you Jason! It was a wonderful night and a lot of fun at our table
I think we were so close to them which made it that much more magical!
i just asked the husband if he would pay $485 to come to this event and he said no.
i can not believe i married a man who would say such a thing.
i used to watch this show all the time. i am so jealous of all the food you ate, i have completely turned green. it is not a becoming color.
also are you going to share the mo po tofu recipe?? i’m not sure which chef i would choose…
That was the most awesome post to read!! Thanks for doing the “hard work” to share it with us!!
Oh how I LOVE the show. Simon is my favorite, although most of them are pretty amazing. I’d sue like to get that recipe for Mopo Tofu. Are you going to share when you figure out what part they left out? ;0)
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