This Is the Iron Chef All the Other Chefs Want to Cook for Them

Geoffrey Zakarian is a culinary powerhouse and a Food Network staple with a career spanning nearly four decades. The beloved chef has earned endless accolades over the years, including, but not limited to, being named Iron Chef, earning several New York Times three-star reviews and earning a Michelin star. And, as if those wins weren’t impressive enough, Geoffrey was recently named the chef that Food Network chefs and icons, Bobby Flay and Alex Guarnaschelli, would most want to cook for them.

“I want Geoffrey Zakarian to cook the entree,” Bobby says. “He’s a great chef.”

Alex concurs. “I have a lot of chefs that I admire, but the one chef I want to cook for me is Geoffrey Zakarian. That man is a magician with anything. Geoffrey, what time is dinner?”

Take a Page Out of His New Book

If you want to see (or, in this case, taste) what all the buzz is about with GZ, you’re in luck. The Iron Chef released his latest cookbook, Original Food: Recapturing the Joy of Eating, to bring his flavors and techniques to your kitchen. The intimate book shares recipes from Geoffrey’s mother, a glimpse into his time leading top restaurants and guidelines for enriching your life and table, using whole, minimally processed ingredients from local sources.

Word to the wise: Don’t let Geoffrey’s penchant for fine dining stop you from grabbing his book. Original Food shows that, more often than not, well-executed dishes made from fresh, simple ingredients epitomize luxury more than any caviar spread or towering croquembouche ever could.

Taking on Triple Threat

Chef Geoffrey Zakarian has been a staple on Food Network for 17 years, and every once in a while, he takes a break from his judging and hosting gigs to show his peers he still has top-tier chops. What better culinary pro to surprise the Titans on the Season 5 Triple Threat finale? Bobby welcomes the luxury-loving chef into his secret kitchen with the password “cashmere,” and the Titans are uneasy from the jump.

Round 1: Geoffrey vs. Brooke

Bobby reveals the ingredients for Round 1 are beef tenderloin and puff pastry.
“Ohhh,” Geoffrey exclaims before eagerly turning toward the Titans, a mixture of relief and excitement evident on his face. “You’re welcome, Geoffrey!” Bobby says before asking how his guest feels about the required ingredients.

“These are some old-school classics,” Geoffrey begins. “That’s in my lane.”

Now, it’s time for GZ to choose his first opponent. His choice? Titan Brooke Williamson. The ever-curious Bobby asks him why, and Geoffrey explains. “Well, because I eliminated her the first time. The last time I was here judging.”

Brooke looks on, bewildered. “You eliminated me?”

“I did, I did,” he confirms.

“I’m still right here!” Brooke retorts.

In confessional, Brooke reveals more. “The last time Geoffrey Zakarian was in this kitchen, I was battling Shirley Chung. I definitely did not beat her. So, I would love to beat him and show him how it feels.”

Bobby asks Brooke how she feels about using beef tenderloin and puff pastry. “Great,” she says. “These are two ingredients I’m very familiar with, that I cook with often. And, obviously, the first thing that pops into my head is beef Wellington.”

Let the Games Begin

Beef tenderloin and puff pastry are relatively modest ingredients, but GZ has no intention of keeping them that way. “I’ve always liked nice things, even when I couldn’t afford them,” he reveals. “So, this dish is going to be pure luxury.”

Brooke proves she isn’t afraid of taking a little risk. “To get off on the right foot against Geoffrey, I want to make two really difficult dishes.” Namely? Beef Wellington.

“Beef Wellington in 45 minutes is a big risk, big reward,” she reveals in her confessional. The traditional dish requires exceptional attention and timing to pull off successfully.

In his confessional, Geoffrey shares his thoughts. “I’m very impressed with Brooke to make beef Wellington. Obviously, it was the first thing we both thought of,” he says. “The second thing I thought was, ‘I’m not making beef Wellington.’”

“If you take it out and the Wellington or the puff pastry is raw, there’s no way to redo it.”

Round 1: Plated

True to his reputation of being a “man of luxury," Geoffrey chooses high-brow ingredients to elevate his first dish of the competition. On his plate? A Beef Tartare With Black Truffle and an Anchovy Puff. His second: Filet Mignon à la Niçoise With a Potato Black Truffle Tartlet.

Great minds think alike, and Brooke serves a tartare for her opening dish, too. Her version is a Tenderloin Tartare With Black Truffles and Gruyère Palmiers. For her second, Brooke proves she has the chops required to pull off a perfectly cooked Beef Wellington in 45 minutes.

Chef Stephen Kalt Judges

So, who was called in for the impossible (and lucky) task of tasting these dishes? Bobby welcomes renowned Chef Stephen Kalt into his secret kitchen. The decorated chef and restaurateur has a culinary career spanning nearly four decades and is celebrated for his Mediterranean- and Italian-inspired cooking.

As he enters, the cameras cut to Geoffrey clapping, beaming and brimming with enthusiasm. In his confessional, he explains.

“Full disclosure, Stephen and I are lifelong friends,” he reveals. “I’ve worked with him many times. He is so good that whatever he decides, I live by.”

Judge Stephen tells Bobby he’s looking for balance in the competitors’ dishes and wants to see the main ingredients shine.

After tasting each dish, he awards both chefs eight out of 10 points. In other words? The Titans and Geoffrey are tied going into Round 2.

“Am I pleased to be tying with an Iron Chef? Absolutely. Am I pleased to be tying with my opponent in the Triple Threat kitchen? Never,” Brooke says.

Round 2: Geoffrey vs. Michael

Next, Bobby reveals the required ingredients for Round 2: ground pork and burrata. Geoffrey chooses to go up against Titan Michael Voltaggio for this round, noting he has never cooked against him before.

“I wanted to save Ayesha for the final round because she beat me last time on Beat Bobby Flay,” he explains. “To sit there for hours waiting to compete is very hard. So, I just want to mess with her a bit.”

Chefs Geoffrey and Michael both show excitement over both ingredients and dive into their dishes right away.

“My style of cooking is rooted in classic French and Italian, but then I just take all that information and sometimes riff and sort of create like jazz,” Geoffrey says. For Round 2, he opts for the unexpected with his first dish: Tuscan Kale and Pork Soup With Burrata Gochujang.

“Geoffrey making a soup, it’s uncharacteristic because he usually makes very pristine things and you don’t see rustic from Geoffrey very often,” Bobby explains.

For his first dish, Michael prepares Pork Sausage With Hazelnut Brown Butter and Smoked Burrata. “Chef Geoffrey Zakarian, I have known and respected him for the majority of my entire career,” Michael shares. “So, to be able to beat him, that would be an immense honor for me.”

Geoffrey shares similar sentiments. “Michael Voltaggio, what he eats at home, he's sort of a steak-and-potatoes guy. But what he cooks is anything but. He's really like a Ferrari chef. So, you gotta be on your game.”

The visiting Iron Chef takes a risk and prepares one of his signatures for his second dish: risotto. He elevates his go-to recipe using the essential ingredients to create Risotto of Pork Sugo and Burrata.

Michael puts his culinary twist on an Italian staple, preparing Pork and Burrata Meatballs With a Tomato Harissa Butter Sauce for his second dish of Round 2.

Round 2: Plated

Judge Stephen tastes Geoffrey’s dishes first. He starts with the risotto and compliments the perfectly al dente rice before moving on to the Tuscan Kale soup. He notes that the gochujang is subtle and sophisticated.

He then tastes Titan Michael’s dishes, starting with the Pork Sausage With Hazelnut Brown Butter and Smoked Burrata. “The fennel sausage with leek works incredibly well,” he begins. “This leek wrap's clever in how delicious this brown butter and hazelnut mixture [is] … but I find the burrata to be a touch distracting from this. Definitely a little problematic for me, this burrata.”

Judge Stephen finds Michael’s second dish, Pork and Burrata Meatball With a Tomato Harissa Butter Sauce, quite impressive. “Mm, very good. The sauce and the burrata are really perfection together,” he says. “Here the pork really comes through more. Beautifully seasoned, interesting texture.”

The Verdict

At the end of Round 2, Stephen awards Geoffrey eight out of 10 points and Michael seven. With his win, the Iron Chef is going into the third and final round with a one-point lead over the Titans. Will Chef Ayesha secure the W for the Titans? There’s only one way to find out.

Round 3: Geoffrey vs. Ayesha

As always, the competing chef is in charge of the ingredient selection for Round 3, and the dishes are judged on a scale of 20. Geoffrey enters this round with a narrow lead, hoping he can best Titan Ayesha Nurdjaja (once and for all!) and take home the $25,000. His ingredients of choice? Chocolate and French butter.

The pairing is simple, at first glance, but Chef Geoffrey chose them strategically. “Ayesha’s a rock star with savory food, but with dark chocolate and French butter, you’re going into dessert world.”

Bobby asks his Titan how she feels about the required ingredients. “I’m being punished. I’m not a pastry chef. I don’t make a lot of desserts, but I don’t think I have a choice.”

As she settles into her workstation, she turns to Geoffrey, “Chef, you up for another butt-whipping?”

The Final Dish

For his final dish, GZ hopes to bring home the prize money with his signature sweet dish since he worked his first job at Le Cirque in 1982: a chocolate souffle. “I ended up becoming like a souffle chef at night, making hundreds of them. So, I do them under pressure.” He serves a Dark Chocolate Souffle with a Meyer Lemon Crema.

Although she finds herself out of her culinary comfort zone, Ayesha leans on her roots to prepare a dessert that can stand up to GZ’s souffle: Knafeh With Dark Chocolate, Pistachio and Lemon Curd. “I'm making knafeh. It is phyllo that's kind of shredded, with a little bit of saffron butter. And then I'm putting in a little bit of ricotta and mozzarella on the inside with chocolate to get it nice and melty and toasty in the oven.”

The Winner Is…

Judge Stephen is impressed — but not blown away — by competing Chef Geoffrey’s tried-and-true souffle. “I think the chocolate flavor is very good. It’s rich, but it’s over-baked. A touch dry.” He notes that the creme is a nice addition to the plate. “Balance with the Meyer lemon is very good.”

He moves on to Ayesha’s knafeh. “I have to say that I’ve not had anything quite like this,” he says. “The crunchiness is beautiful. The butter is obviously there. The chocolate is there, but it's not super chocolatey. The mozzarella is something I haven't experienced before. Then, the lemon curd, phenomenal.”

It’s time to rank each dish from one to 20 and narrow in on the Season 5 finale winner.

Judge Stephen awards his lifelong friend and Iron Chef Geoffrey 16 out of 20 points. “Geoffrey, as always, I enjoyed your cooking. And I think I mentioned about the souffle that I did find it to be a touch over-baked, but the depth of flavor was absolutely there.”

From here, Stephen turns to the final competing Titan of the evening. “Ayesha, your dessert was one of a kind,” he begins. “Extremely interesting. I gave your dish … 18 points!”

With that, Ayesha beats Geoffrey for a second time and earns the big win for the Titans.

After a grand applause from her fellow Titans, Ayesha and Geoffrey hug it out. The opponents hug it out. “If I'm gonna lose to anyone, losing to Ayesha is like an honor,” GZ confesses. “She's so good, but I'm not happy about it.”

His parting thoughts before Bobby & Co. kick him out of the secret kitchen? “That was a really enjoyable day of cooking, honestly, and these three chefs here are really spectacular. You are Titans.”

And, to put things in perspective, the Iron Chef continues, “I cooked as good as I could, but I lost by one point. So, that's how good the cooking is. I respect them so much.”