Editing Iron Chef (section)

==Notable challengers==
{{For|a full list of challengers|List of Iron Chef episodes}}

Certain challengers have made repeat appearances, or have been particularly memorable (including if they were the lone chefs specializing in their particular cuisines in the show's history).

(Japanese names are not in the traditional Japanese style [i.e. family name first] but have been written in standard European style [i.e. family name last].)
* '''Jacques Borie''': An [[Meilleur Ouvrier de France|MOF]] winner.  He is the only challenger who beat iron chef Yutaka Ishinabe.
* '''''[[La Tour d'Argent]]''''' (Two wins and one draw in four battles) – A historic French restaurant in Paris (dating itself back to 1582) that has a Tokyo branch at the Hotel New Otani open since 1984.
** '''Tadaaki Shimazu''': a chef who worked at the Tokyo branch, he bested Sakai with homard lobster as the theme.
** '''Bernard Leprince''' (One win in two battles) : a chef at the main Paris branch who faced Nakamura twice, with the chefs winning one each. Leprince won their initial battle during the French Special with salmon as the theme and also won the rematch in Tokyo with duck as the theme.
** '''Dominique Corby''': a chef at the Tokyo branch, he was the 300th challenger and fought Chen to a draw first with foie gras as the regulation theme and then with asparagus as the overtime theme. He is the only competitor to have tied an Iron Chef twice — once initially and again in the overtime battle. He and Chen were subsequently declared joint winners.
* '''''[[Arpège (restaurant)|Arpège]]''''' (Two wins and one draw in four battles) – a French restaurant in Paris that earned its first [[Michelin Guide]] star in its first year after its founding in 1986, its second soon thereafter and a third in 1996, which it has maintained since. It was also ranked 8th in [[The World's 50 Best Restaurants]] in 2018.<ref name="theworlds50best larpege">{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.theworlds50best.com/list/1-50-winners/l-arpege
 |title       = L'Arpège
 |publisher   = [[Restaurant Magazine]]
 |year        = 2011
 |access-date  = 4 February 2012
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20130502031641/http://www.theworlds50best.com/list/1-50-winners/l-arpege/
 |archive-date = 2 May 2013
}}</ref> 
** '''[[Alain Passard]]''' (One win and one draw in three battles): Arpège's owner and head chef. He represented France in the 1997 Iron Chef World Cup in Kyoto and beat American Patrick Clark with homard lobster as the theme before tying Nakamura in the final with foie gras as the theme. Short after his appearance, L'Arpege had received its third Michelin star. In the series finale, Passard was invited to Kitchen Stadium to be the final challenger during the final King of Iron Chefs series, where Sakai bested him with Long Gang chicken as the theme.
** '''Tetsuya Shimada''': A Japanese French chef who worked at Arpège from 1987 until his return to Japan in 1992, his skills were recognized by Passard, who made him a seafood specialist while at Arpège. Also a member of Club Mistral (see below), Sakai also beat him with black truffles as the theme.
* '''Cheng Kazuhiko''': A Chinese chef and the first challenger to win in Kitchen Stadium after he bested Chen in the sixth episode with [[Octopus (food)|octopus]] as the theme
* '''Tadamichi Ōta''': defeated Iron Chef Sakai in an octopus battle, in which Sakai was particularly squeamish about handling the live creatures. Later became the leader of the "Ōta Faction" (大田軍団) of traditional Japanese chefs.  The Ōta Faction regularly challenged Iron Chef Morimoto and his neo-Japanese style, winning one out of five battles. Ōta Faction was the name used in the translated version shown on Food Network. In the original Japanese version (shown in the U.S. and transcribed by the Iron Chef Reporter in southern California) the group is called ''Ōta's Party of Heaven and Earth'' (OPHE; 大田天地の会). Every time he appeared, Fukui would point out that he was not related to Shinichiro Ohta, the show's floor reporter.
* '''Kyoko Kagata''' (One win in two battles): A French chef, the first female chef to appear on the show and the youngest chef to be victorious after beating Chen with scallops as the theme. Four years later, after experiencing a midlife crisis, she challenged Chen again. This time, with veal as the theme, Chen won by 19–17 on Kishi's scorecard and 20–19 on the others.
: An interesting side note is that the second female challenger, cooking show host '''Katsuyo Kobayashi''', also faced Chen. Kobayashi indirectly picked Chen because she allowed Kaga to pick for her. Chen lost both battles, and purportedly caught some flak from chef-friends of his. Chen fought another two female challengers in separate battles and won.
* '''Cho Chiyo''': An [[okonomiyaki]] turned Cantonese chef from Kobe who helped feed those suffering hardship after the city was devastated by the [[Great Hanshin Earthquake]]. Kaga invited her to battle in recognition of her bravery and so that she could cook to her heart's content, and she challenged Chen, who prevailed with tofu as the theme.
* '''[[Toshiro Kandagawa]]''' (three wins out of six battles): Regular challenger who aligned himself with the Ōta Faction, a group of hardline traditionalists in Japanese cuisine, and often led his army of fellow chefs and protegés into Kitchen Stadium during challenges.  Kandagawa has taken part in several battles wherein he supported apprentices to battle an Iron Chef (only one out of the ten won). Kandagawa also participated in several "battle special" episodes, including the '''21st Century Battle'''.  Rokusaburo Michiba was his main rival until Michiba's retirement as Iron Chef Japanese; he has recorded victories over Chen, Nakamura and Sakai.
* '''[[Pierre Gagnaire]]''': The owner and head chef of the eponymous Michelin 3-star Pierre Gagnaire in Paris, Gagnaire represented France in the 1995 Iron Chef World Cup at Ariake Coliseum but lost to eventual runner-up Gianfranco Vissani with tuna as the theme ingredient. He was later under financial pressure as the French economic downturn threatened to close the restaurant, and Kaga was moved to organize the France Battle Special to rekindle Gagnaire's spirit. He then proceeded to defeat Sakai with lobster as the theme.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfEQPJDN7G4 |title=''Iron Chef'' – France Battle Special |website=YouTube}} (Originally broadcast by Fuji TV / Food Network)</ref> Gagnaire has since opened another restaurant bearing his name in Tokyo as part of his ventures, operating since 2005.
* '''Rory Kennedy''': The head chef of [[Rules (restaurant)|Rules]] in Covent Garden, London and the lone British challenger on the show. He and Sakai battled to a draw with rabbit as the theme, with Sakai prevailing in overtime with pigeon as the theme.
* '''[[Bobby Flay]]''': Flay entered into a bit of a rivalry with Iron Chef Japanese Morimoto during the show's special ''New York Battle''. Flay complained that his side of the kitchen was poorly laid out (it was noted in an Iron Chef America "Behind the Scenes" episode that the kitchen was hastily set up in the provided forum).  At one point Flay received an [[electric shock]], transmitted by a wet floor and faulty wiring, when he grabbed a metal pan on the range. When Flay stood on his cutting board at the end of the battle, Morimoto declared that Flay was "not a chef" for disregarding the cleanliness of one's cutting board. Morimoto won, but Flay was offered a rematch. He accepted, and got his revenge, in the '''21st Century Battle''' in Japan, where, at battle's end, he tossed the cutting board off the counter before climbing on it, so as not to offend Morimoto again.  Flay then became an Iron Chef alongside Morimoto on ''[[Iron Chef America]]''. This rivalry was revisited for a third time with Morimoto defeating Flay during the Holiday Ice Battle (''Iron Chef America'', November 2009)
* '''[[Ron Siegel]]''': A French/California cuisine chef who was head chef of Charles Nob Hill in San Francisco when he bested Sakai with lobster as the theme to become the first American challenger to win in Kitchen Stadium. Mayor [[Willie Brown (politician)|Willie Brown]] had personally recommended Siegel to be on the show.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Nerves-of-Iron-S-F-contestant-shocks-everyone-2952447.php|author=Charles Burress|website=SFGate|access-date=2022-06-16|title=Nerves of Iron / S.F. contestant shocks everyone by winning 'Iron Chef' TV show|date=16 January 1999 }}</ref>
* '''Michael Noble''': The lone Canadian challenger and an award winner in the [[Bocuse d'Or]], who was head chef at the Metropolitan Hotel in Vancouver when he challenged Morimoto in Battle Potato in 1999 with Morimoto winning 3–1.
* '''Wayne Nish''': A Japanese-American chef (his grandfather is from Yamaguchi Prefecture), New York native and the head chef at March, a highly rated restaurant on Manhattan's [[Upper East Side]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/10/arts/restaurants-643295.html |title=''Restaurants'' (February 10, 1995, Section C, Page 22) |newspaper=[[New York Times|The New York Times]]|date=10 February 1995 |last1=Reichl |first1=Ruth }}</ref> Sakai bested him with apples as the theme, with the battle also being notable because it was the only one that regular color commentator Yukio Hattori judged.
* {{Nihongo|'''Serie A'''|セリエＡ|extra=also known as the "''Big Leaguers''"}}: A group of Italian chefs working in Japan who took their name from [[Serie A|the top flight of Italian football]] and frequently challenged Iron Chef Italian Kobe: Mario Frittoli, Constantino Gemmoli, and Franco Canzoniere. No group member ever defeated Kobe, although one member did defeat Morimoto. 
** '''Marco Paolo Molinari''': A member of Serie A and a world pasta champion who prevailed over Morimoto with porcini mushrooms as the theme, making him ultimately the only Italian challenger to beat an Iron Chef. Utilized a block of marble that was first heated using alcohol spray and a torch and then cooled with dry ice while creating and kneading his dough, which bewildered Morimoto.
* '''Joël Bruant''' (One win in two battles): A Tokyo-based French chef considered a French culinary ambassador to Japan, he was vice chairman of the Acaedemie Culinaire de France and a top apprentice to [[Paul Bocuse]]. He and Marashi Furutaka beat Michiba and Chen in a doubles match with sea bass as the theme, but Sakai beat him with salmon as the theme.
* {{Nihongo|'''Club Mistral'''|クラブミストラル}}: A group of young specialists in French cuisine. They mainly targeted Iron Chef French Sakai as a member of Club des Trentes – one of their competing groups composed of more established French chefs that included Sakai, Ishinabe and challenger Etsuo Jō – in a similar fashion, although they took on Iron Chef Chinese Chen and Iron Chef French Ishinabe once each as well. Only one of them managed a win (Kazutaka Okabe versus Sakai, in a lamb battle) despite several attempts.
* '''[[Tatsuo Umemiya]]''': An actor, ''[[tarento]]'' (including on restaurant variety shows) and businessman. He lost to Michiba with horse mackerel as the theme but was invited back as a judge for some subsequent battles including the King of Iron Chefs series finale.
* '''[[Heichinrou]]''' (One win out of three battles): The oldest restaurant in [[Yokohama Chinatown]] sent three challengers to challenge Chen in 1998 and 1999 after deeming him worthy of their challenge. Chen beat cooking coach Hisao Yaginuma with bok choy as the theme and Mitsuo Suganuma (the first Japanese chef to head a Heichinrou branch) with shark fin as the theme before Xie Huaxian, the restaurant's grand chef, won with spiny lobster as the theme.
* '''Dr. [[Yukio Hattori]]''': A [[gentlemen's agreement]] went on between the Chairman of Gourmet Academy (Kaga) and the President of Culinary Academy (Hattori) where the Doctor agreed to battle an Iron Chef. If he won, he would be given a spot alongside the Iron Chefs and if he lost he would keep working for Kaga.  As he remained a commentator until the end of the series, one can easily deduce the outcomes of his two battles. [[Joël Robuchon]] was invited as a guest judge for the event, and Honorary Iron Chef Ishinabe served in a commentary role in Hattori's place for the battle. Hattori also battled Nakamura in his final battle with tuna as the theme owing to the longstanding Hattori-Nadaban rivalry, with Nakamura prevailing with tuna as the theme.
*'''Takashi Saitō''' (not to be confused with [[Takashi Saito (baseball)|the baseball player]]): The top apprentice of Chen's father [[Chen Kenmin]] who also coached Kenichi after Kenmin died and then challenged him with prawns at the theme. Both chefs recreated one of Kenmin's signatures, [[Chili shrimp|prawns in chili sauce]] – Saito recreated Kenmin's original recipe, while Kenichi recreated his father's modern version of the dish (with ketchup, which he then served Canapé Style) and went on to win. In the ''2000th Dish Special'', Kaga said that Chen's prawns were his favorite dish to that point, and Chen himself also said it was the battle he remembered most including because it was the one battle that his mother Yoko watched in person.
*'''Isao Makio''': A French chef who was a classmate of Sakai's at Izumi Municipal Junior High School in [[Kagoshima Prefecture]], the two sat next to each other but barely talked, though the two were also on the same train to seek jobs and got off at different stations. After Sakai returned to Kagoshima to visit his parents' grave and unexpectedly reunited with his class and teacher, the class relayed his wish to meet Sakai and challenge him, which would be the first time they had met in 40 years. Sakai prevailed with Kagoshima black pig as the theme and the class in attendance.
*'''Lin Kunbi''' (no wins in two battles): A celebrity Fuchien Chinese chef who battled Michiba to a draw with potatoes as the theme, leading to the very first overtime in show history where Michiba prevailed with sweet potatoes as the theme. He later also faced Nakamura, who won with bell peppers as the theme.
*'''Kenichi Miyanaga''': A graduate of [[Hattori Nutrition College]] who was also an assistant for several Kitchen Stadium Battles and eventually hired by Michiba after Michiba retired as an active Iron Chef and after Miyanaga graduated. Michiba chose him to face Morimoto in a battle to also push Morimoto, and Morimoto won with sweetfish as the theme.
*'''[[Yūji Wakiya]]''' (one win in three battles): A master of "neo-Chinese" cuisine, Wakiya lost to Iron Chef Sakai in Battle [[Sea Urchin]] but defeated Iron Chef Chen with [[papaya]]s. He later became part of Chen's All-Chinese team alongside Sozo Miyamoto for the 2000th Dish Special. He was also named the second Iron Chef Chinese in the Millennium Cup and was supposed to take over Chen's place, but he never actually battled under the new title until the first episode of the 2012 revival.
*'''Etsuo Jō''' (two wins in three battles): A French chef famous for his sauces. Michiba defeated him with broccoli as the theme, but he then bested Sakai with wine as the theme. He was also chosen to be the third member of Sakai's All-French team for the 2000th Dish Special alongside Ishinabe.
*'''Sozo Miyamoto''' (no wins in two battles): A Shanghai cuisine chef and a rival of Chen's who, like him, won a silver award representing Japan in the World Chinese Cooking Championship in 1992. Chen won with carp as the theme, but Miyamoto was also invited to join him on the All-Chinese team for the 2000th Dish Special alongside Wakiya.
*'''Li Jinlun''': A Cantonese chef working in Tokyo after being been the head chef at [[Fook Lam Moon]], a famous Cantonese restaurant in Hong Kong. Chen bested him with swallow's nest ($24,000 worth) as the theme.
*'''Kazunari Takeda''': the first challenger defeat Iron Chef Masahiko Kobe in 30 minutes overtime battle with the theme ingredient Pink Prawn. He first tied with Masahiko Kobe during the battle of Cod Soft Roe and finally he made way to the 30 minutes overtime battle and won.
*'''Liang Shuqing''': Liang Shueng's younger brother became the second challenger to defeat Iron Chef Chen Kenichi in 30 minutes overtime battle with the theme ingredient [[Konnyaku]]. He first tied with Chen Kenichi during the battle of [[Pork belly]] and finally he made way to the 30 minutes overtime battle and won.
*'''Masahiko Hagiwara''' (One win in two battles): An Italian chef and pasta specialist. Chen beat him with scampi as the theme, but he bested Kobe with short pasta as the theme in Kobe's debut, making him the only challenger to win against a debuting Iron Chef.
*'''Kentaro''': Katsuyo Kobayashi's son who wants to defeat Iron Chef Chen Kenichi like his mother did before. He first appeared in his mother's cook show at the age of 5 and at age 25 he further his skills in art, music and cooking. During the battle with Iron Chef Chen Kenichi he refused to use the same recipes like his mother. Chen beat Kentaro in the new potatoes battle.
*'''[[Shinya Tasaki]]''': The winner of the [[Association de la Sommellerie Internationale]]'s Meilleur [[Sommelier]] du Monde (World's Best Sommelier) in Tokyo in 1995, the first (and as of 2020, still only) Asian national to win the competition. Also president of the Association {{as of|2013|lc=on}}. Tasaki is also the only non-professional chef to have won in Kitchen Stadium after defeating Kobe with fatty tuna as the theme. Though it was not a stipulation of the battle, by virtue of his being a sommelier, both he and Kobe chose wines to pair with their dishes. Also invited to perform sommelier duties during the series finale.
*'''Sotetsu Fujii''': The high priest of the Fushikian Temple in Kamakura and a Shojin vegetarian chef, who Sakai bested with yams as the theme.
*'''Hiroshi Furusho''': A French chef (including a specialty in [[Cajun cuisine]]) and a favorite of the [[Tokyo Yakult Swallows]], including manager [[Katsuya Nomura]], a recurring judge who recommended him for the show. Nomura and a number of players attended his appearance, where Michiba prevailed with turkey as the theme.
*'''Jun'ichi Itō''': The first challenger not classified as a chef specializing in any specific cuisine, he started French cooking at age 18 and left for France at age 28. He left for Italy three years later and joined [[Enoteca Pinchiorri]], where Kobe had also trained. When he was 35, he opened his restaurant Herle Quin in Tokyo. Food critic [[Asako Kishi]], the show's most frequent judge by dishes tasted, recommended him as a challenger before Chen won with yogurt as the theme.
*'''Kensuke Sakai''': An Italian chef, but most notable because his restaurant "Nigiro" was (at time of taping in 1998) really a food stand that he brings in by hand to a monastery's yard each night – he had been cited 30 times by Tokyo police before coming to the arrangement with the monastery. At his introduction, Sakai brought the food cart into Kitchen Stadium. Kobe bested him with pumpkin as the theme.
*'''Chihiro Otsuki''': One of just two Spanish cuisine challengers in the show's history, who had won awards for her cooking in Spain. Chen won by just a single point with tomatoes as the theme.
*'''Yosei Watanabe''': The lone Mexican cuisine chef to be a challenger on the show and the chef who opened the first authentic Mexican restaurant in Tokyo, who Kobe bested with mangoes as the theme.
*'''Senji Osada''': A [[sous vide]] specialist, who Sakai bested with scallops as a theme. A vacuum machine was stalled on either side of Kitchen Stadium for the battle, and Osada used it for all of his dishes while Sakai also used it for two of his.
*'''Lee Myong-suk''': A Royal Korean cuisine chef and the lone Korean challenger on the show, she went on to become an executive chef at the Culinary Institute of California. Chen was victorious in their battle with liver as the theme.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ocregister.com/2013/06/12/chef-aims-to-share-korean-cuisine-with-world/ |title=Chef aims to share Korean cuisine with world |newspaper=[[Orange County Register|The Orange County Register]]}}</ref>
*'''Hironobu Tsujiguchi''': A patissier who became the youngest champion of the World Cup of Desserts, he was the first and only challenger to win a dessert battle out of seven after he prevailed over Kobe with chocolate and bananas as the themes.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/tag/hironobu-tsujiguchi/ |title=Hironobu Tsujiguchi (Topic Page) |newspaper=[[The Japan Times]]}}</ref>
*'''Tetsutoshi Shimazu''': An Italian chef and the first challenger specializing in [[pizza]]. Chen bested him with squid as the theme but worried during the battle as Shimazu was making his pizza that he himself might not have a dish that would beat it.
*'''Gillian Hirst''': A chef from Brisbane who was the lone Australian challenger in the show's history. Nakamura bested her with ostrich as the theme by a single point.
*'''Takashi Mera''' (One win in two battles): A chef who used the longest knife in the country, almost twice the 8-inch average length used by other Japanese chefs. He lost to Michiba with tuna as the theme but was invited back for a rematch and bested Nakamura with wakame seaweed as the theme.
*'''Kiyotaka Ikegawa''': A [[sumo]] ''[[rikishi]]'' known as Fuyoho who turned chef after an injury cut his sumo career short. Chen bested him with horsehair crab as the theme.
* Other female challengers include Fuyuko Kondō, Kandagawa protégée Yoshie Urabe, Yoshiko Takemasa, Katsuko Nanao, Kumiko Kobayashi, Miyoko Sakai and Chinese Cui Yufen. Among the women listed above, only Cui won in her battle (coincidentally against Chen).