The chef Bobby Flay is ubiquitous on the Food Network. I usually see him in two shows, Iron Chef America and Throwdown with Bobby Flay. Both are competitive shows. Flay usually loses on Throwdown and wins on Iron Chef.
On Throwdown, Bobby Flay makes one dish and competes with an expert . For example, recently there was a show where he made a deep dish pizza against Chicago native Lou Malnati. The two dishes are judged by two experts side by side with a partisan local audience watching. Flay lost.
On Iron Chef America, the format is different. There is a secret ingredient (though I bet both contestants have a fair idea of what it will be!). In this format, Flay and his fellow Iron Chefs are matched against a gourmet chef. Last week the secret ingredient was butter. The entrant was Koren Grieveson of avec in Chicago. Koren picked Cat Cora to compete against. And the competition was tied. As I said, this is a rare event in Iron Chef because the incumbent usually wins. Why?
I think it’s all in the judging. On Iron Chef, the chefs get to present their dishes to the judges so there is no anonymity. On Throwdown, they do not identify who cooked which dish.
I wish they would adopt the same format for Iron Chef. The judges are biased towards the incumbent. For example, while Cat Cora’s food looked good, she won more points in the category of “originality”. One of her dishes was bread and butter, another was gnocchi in a butter sage sauce. These are original only if one adopts an ironic definition of the word “original”. But then everything is original and the category makes no sense! Frankly, I went to avec last night and I just find it hard to believe Cat Cora’s food is better. Maybe I am expressing the bias manifested on Throwdown: the bias of the local audience towards the local contestant. This can also be fixed by making the judges judge in a different room. Similarly, on Iron Chef, a third party, say Alton Brown, could present the dishes. If the judges have questions, the show can set up speakers in a separate room where the chef is standing nervously. S/he can answer the questions into an earpiece worn by Alton Brown. He can relay the answers to the judges. This can be done in a theatrical way to add more drama and tension.
A basketball game where one team is vastly superior to the other is boring to watch. By leveling the playing field, Food Network can add more uncertainty to the competition and get more viewers.
Cheap Talk 
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April 29, 2009 at 11:01 am
Sean
The chefs do know the “secret ingredient” on Iron Chef, I saw a “behind the scenes” episode. Apparently, they would have to dramatically increase the available complementary ingredients (and it already looks like they supply a ton) if the “secret ingredient” were actually a secret; given the current inventory, chefs would too often not find the complementary ingredients they desired if they did not know the “secret” ahead of time (they actually get to pre-order some things). It’s still damn impressive what they can pull of an in hour.
The one problem with your suggestion is that the show occassionally meanders over to the judges to ask them what they think so-and-so is doing with such-and-such an ingredient (it appears that the chefs do not reveal their intentions ex ante, so what they are preparing is the real secret). This sort of color commentary would be lost if they were sitting in a different room.
April 29, 2009 at 12:44 pm
sandeep
Good point. I guess there is an audience sitting in the shadows. Perhaps they could be used to add color commentary?
Didn’t know for certain that they knew the secret ingredient. I have a relative of a friend who competed. I believe they also negotiate over which chef they will face.
April 29, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Pierre
I came to a different conclusion. The incumbency principle IS at work during Throwdown. Flay visits the chefs’ restaurants to compete. The people there lean towards the home court advantage.
The judges can tell whose dish they are tasting most of the time. Flay decorates his dishes more, and uses new varieties. In fact, in one episode, the judge said the chef’s name while talking about the dish even though it had not been revealed whose dish they were tasting.
In the pad thai throwdown, the chefs were standing right in front of the judges, and the competing chef began grinning when they mentioned “Dish A,” the judges clearly took cues from her and showed their incumbency bias by giving her the edge.
The Chili Cookoff episode was a good episode because it was very difficult to tell whose dish was being tasted. The chefs stood behind the judges, and the nature of the dish made it it difficult to tell which chef’s chili was being tasted.
I believe the results of that show would be vastly different if they took greater steps to ensure anonymity during judging.
April 30, 2009 at 10:32 pm
sandeep
When I mention my own preference for avec, I imply that I display the incumbency disadvantage inherent in Throwdown. So, I agree – both shows should have more anonymous judging.
April 30, 2009 at 3:05 am
Pierre
I came to a different conclusion. The incumbency principle IS at work during Throwdown. Flay visits the chefs’ restaurants to compete. The people there lean towards the home court advantage.
The judges can tell whose dish they are tasting most of the time. Flay decorates his dishes more, and uses new varieties. In fact, in one episode, the judge said the chef’s name while talking about the dish even though it had not been revealed whose dish they were tasting.
In the pad thai throwdown, the chefs were standing right in front of the judges, and the competing chef began grinning when they mentioned “Dish A,” the judges clearly took cues from her and showed their incumbency bias by giving her the edge.
The Chili Cookoff episode was a good episode because it was very difficult to tell whose dish was being tasted. The chefs stood behind the judges, and the nature of the dish made it it difficult to tell which chef’s chili was being tasted.
I believe the results of that show would be vastly different if they took greater steps to ensure anonymity during judging.
P.S. – Sorry, forgot to tell you great post!
April 30, 2009 at 4:06 am
Diane Newman
I don’t think they have an idea as to what the secret ingredient is.. But i love watching the show.
April 30, 2009 at 6:42 pm
BrianF
The chefs are given a list of three possible secret ingredients, and then the ingredient is revealed at the time of the competition. The chefs can plan ahead with menus for each ingredient, but don’t know until the reveal wht the ingredient actually is.
June 10, 2013 at 10:14 am
Imtiaz
So much focus is placed on ‘foodie ciiets’ like NY, SF Hong Kong, Singapore, etc. that gems in other places are given short shrift. Lynn’s Paradise Cafe sounds like a great restaurant – the dishes you and your friend chose look delicious but I’d be perfectly content with a (very large) plate of sweet potato fries!For me, what comes to mind when I hear Kentucky are mint juleps, seersucker and roses! 8-D
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