Billed as The Greatest Title in the World of Food,  Iron Chef America burst onto the American food stage via Food Network in January of 2015 and has not lost steam since.  A handful of rising star chefs compete against each other, with eliminations each week until the last chef standing goes up against the reigning Iron Chefs.  All the great components of reality tv right? Competition, passion, bragging rights for oh, eternity on the line.

Hot Plate Iron Chef @ Wild Goose Creative

We’re not going quite that far.

Instead of gathering together (and trying to juggle the schedules of) a handful of Columbus’ rising star chefs, we’re taking it two at a time.

Wild Goose Creative hosts the HOT PLATE Iron Chef competition, two Columbus chefs squaring off against each other in an evening full of laughter, camaraderie, drinks, and really good food. Also, (and my personal favorite part) This is all done in true fundraiser fashion, with all proceeds going directly to Wild Goose Creative, but we’ll get back to that in a minute.

So what’s this about hot plates you ask. You know. Hot plates. Cooking like college freshmen, but with better budgets. (Credit to Chef Meach for that bad ass tag line)  Do we give our chefs fully furnished kitchens, gourmet pantries, top of the line cuts of meat? Ha. Oh, wait. I probably shouldn’t snort with laughter at that.  Welllll…. kinda.

The pantry is provided,  the proteins are provided, the secret ingredient is provided. Fully furnished kitchens? Not quite.  The chefs that will be competing for the title of Hot Plate Iron Chef, they get a hot plate. That’s it. That’s their only heat source.

One hot plate.

What they do with it, that’s up to them.

 

 

Aside from the fact that our chefs are competing against themselves, each other, aaaaaand the clock, all  proceeds from the event go directly to support Wild Goose Creative, a nonprofit community arts organization whose mission is to build a creative community at the intersection of art, risk and meaning.

Wild Goose Creative gives artists from the community a place to show their work, hold events, hold classes, and to gather together. Come support them, and the chefs, for an evening of laughter and fun.

The event is made up of two rounds, the appetizer and the entrée.

Round One | The Appetizer

In the first round, the appetizer round, the chefs are given twenty minutes to create their appetizer, highlighting the secret ingredient and prepare their dish by  plating it for judging. Additionally, anyone who purchases a VIP ticket, they’ll get a plate as well. (Plus a free drink, don’t worry though, if you’re not able to snag a VIP ticket before they sell out, it’s a cash bar, if you go thirsty, that’ll be on you.)

Round Two | The entrée

 The second round is the entrée round. Chefs are again given twenty minutes to prepare and plate their concept for judging, highlighting the evening’s secret ingredient (sourced locally, but more than that, and I might accidentally give it away.)

 

Attendance is capped at 70, as we like to keep it more personable. Well, personable in the way that the chefs are working on an elevated platform, with 70 people staring at them, but you get the gist.

VIP Tickets

VIP ticket holders receive one drink ticket, samples of the chefs signature dish that the chefs will have prepared in advance, as well as a small plate (think amuse bouche) of  all four competition plates. Only 20 VIP tickets are offered for each event, and they tend to go quickly.

General Admission Tickets

 GA ticket holders get to sample each chefs signature dish, and have access to the cash bar.

 

The Judges panel seats four, and while the judges have yet to be announced (that’s coming soon, of course, I can’t give you everything at once, what fun would that be?) each event will have a new host of judges.

Chefs will discuss their plated dishes after each round for the crowd and judges, who will then provide feedback on the following categories. Creativity, Style, and Taste. Points will be awarded by judges on each of the above categories, for each round.

After the second round has been presented, discussed, and sampled, the points will be tallied, and one chef will walk away with a new title.

Hot Plate Iron Chef.

Aside from bragging rights? The Chef judged to be the Hot Plate Iron Chef takes home a 6’ trophy.

Stick around.

The chef’s will be announced soon.  (You had to know that was coming)

Want to get involved? Shoot me an email.  hello@cookeatexplore.com