table talk / By Bob Doran

The Humane Iron Chef

(Jan. 18, 2007)  My brother-in-law Chris first hipped me to Iron Chef, a Japanese cooking show he described as “surreal.” Originally titled Ironmen of Cooking, the TV program featured a mythical “Kitchen Stadium” maintained by an equally mythic Chairman Kaga, who pitted his team of Iron Chefs against illustrious challengers in a timed battle/race to prepare a collection of dishes based on some theme ingredient, which were then sampled by celebrity judges. A major hit in Japan after it launched in 1993, the program was picked up by the then-nascent Food Network in a dubbed version that was indeed surreal, with dramatic music and campy commentary that somehow gave the battles the feel of kung fu flicks. The original show ended in 1999, with a few follow-up specials. The Food Network later created its own stateside version, Iron Chef America, which runs to this day.

Chef Eric Nelson had Iron Chef on his mind when he began the planning for this weekend’s benefit for the Sequoia Humane Society, an organic vegetarian feast since dubbed “The Humane Gourmet.”

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Nelson initially connected with Jennifer Kincaid, who was looking for someone to cater a grand opening for her Jennifer Kincaid Gallery in Old Town.

“Originally we were going to set up a culinary competition with three teams of three chefs each,” said Nelson, contacted at his home in Arcata. “We were all going to come up with an organic vegetarian meal. The idea was to do something along the lines of Iron Chef.”

Unfortunately it was not meant to be - not right now, anyway. “All the chefs kept pulling out. I went through roughly 25 chefs and multitudes of teams as people dropped out. It wound up being way too much of a hassle so we dropped that idea. We may try another go at the competition, probably in the spring. I’d really like to do it.”

Nelson, who has worked at a number of local restaurants, is currently employed at Wildplatter Café at Wildberries while working toward a degree in business at HSU with a nutrition minor.

“I’ve been here [in Humboldt County] five or six years now. Just after I graduated culinary school at American River in Sacramento I moved here and started working at Plaza Grill.

“I love it there,” he said with enthusiasm. “You get benefits, and I’m getting paid more than at most places I’ve worked at around here — but I still work part time at Abruzzi and Plaza Grill and pick up shifts at Hurricane Kate’s and Kyoto every now and then.”

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