BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- The crowd at Hot and Hot Fish Club erupted in celebration tonight when chef and co-owner Chris Hastings was pronounced the winner of Food Network reality cooking show "Iron Chef America."
Hastings, a four-time James Beard Foundation Award nominee for the best chef in the South, squared off against TV celebrity chef Bobby Flayin a contest over which chef could prepare the best dishes containing the mystery ingredient. When the secret ingredient was revealed a roar of approval came from the crowd.
"Sausage! Perfect!" cried Turner Inscoe, a Hastings friend.
Since the contest took place in July, Hastings has kept the secret even from his own children. As a crowd of more than 200 faithful customers, friends and family gathered, happily packed elbow-to-elbow in his Southside restaurant, Hastings maintained his silence on the outcome. But win-lose-or-draw, the night was meaningful.
"Everybody in this room has been a very important part of out lives for the past 17 years," Hastings said.
Set in Food Network's fabled Kitchen Stadium in New York City, "Iron Chef America" is a high-pressure cooking contest in which two chefs are given an hour to prepare and plate five dishes using a mystery ingredient revealed in the first moments of the show.
Their results are scored on taste, originality and presentation. Hastings played the role of challenger to Flay, who hosts several shows on the network including "Throwdown with Bobby Flay" and "Barbecue Addiction." Flay, who has appeared on "Iron Chef America" more than 50 times, has a 70 percent winning percentage.
But Flay was having an off night. The Hot and Hot crowd hooted as Flay cussed in frustration at multiple mishaps, like a botched batch of batter and burned sausage.
Though they didn't known until showtime what the mystery ingredient was, Hastings' team prepared and came prepared.
Each contestant is allowed two assistants and Hastings brought two former Hot and Hot chefs de cuisine: Rob McDaniel, executive chef at the Lake Martin restaurant SpringHouse, and Sedesh Boodram. In preparation for the competition, the three chefs trained four or five hours a day, three or four mornings a week, for about a month in the Hot and Hot Fish Club kitchen, where Hastings rearranged things to try to simulate Kitchen Stadium.
During the training, Hasting's wife, Idie, who co-owns the restaurant, mimicked "Iron Chef America" host Alton Brown's questions to the contestants and kept time.
Leeds potter Tena Payne -- who makes all of the plates, bowls and cups for Hot and Hot Fish Club -- created five 15-piece settings especially for the show.
The team came prepared with an arsenal of local ingredients that the restaurant often uses in its dishes: okra, peaches, tomatoes, field peas, corn and even some locally made moonshine.
"We really tried to bring our own brand, our own philosophy. We didn't try to be someone we are not," he said.
Hastings called Flay a complete gentleman.
"He made us feel welcome and comfortable," Hastings said.
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