Sunday, April 13, 2008
Food
The thrill of the grill
Kevin Rathbun takes on ‘Iron Chef’
CREDIT:Spark St. Jude
Kevin Rathbun is the first Georgia chef to win “Iron Chef America.”
By Hope S. Philbrick
With three successful restaurants—Rathbun’s, Krog Bar and Kevin Rathbun Steak—that routinely attract accolades, it’s clear that Atlantans already consider Kevin Rathbun a winning chef. But working alongside his brother Kent, who is the chef and owner of Abacus in Dallas, Texas, Rathbun claimed the title Iron Chef America by beating Bobby Flay with a score of 50 to 46. Sunday Paper recently talked to him about the competition he called “sixty minutes of pure movement.”
Q How did you feel about competing against Bobby Flay?
A Bobby and I are good friends. Before he was famous he worked with me at Baby Routh in Dallas for a couple of weeks. He gave me a credit in his first book for a couple of recipes. We go way back.
Now when I see him we laugh and have a good time. I just saw him recently at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival. He’s very happy for us. He’s got 25 wins already. He’s genuinely happy for me and my brother. That’s just the kind of friends we are. He might want a rematch someday.
We taped the show in September of last year and had to be quiet for six months. It wasn’t easy to keep a secret, especially since I’d won, but I had a lot of people convinced that I’d lost.
What was the secret ingredient?
The secret ingredient was elk. There are some things you don’t want, which is anything you’ve never worked with before. More than anything I wanted something that people would like other than something really kind of weird that people don’t want to eat. Elk is one of those things that might fall into that category for some people, but you can make it taste good so I was happy.
The first dish was elk carpaccio which came with marinated peaches, smoked sea salt and pumpkin seed pesto. The second dish was elk tenderloin served with sweet potato sope and two sauces, an achiope hollandaise and a mole. Third was an elk strip loin with red chile seared with heirloom blue corn grits and blue cheese. Fourth was elk meatballs with cabbage carbonara, boar bacon and a little red pepper vinegar. And fifth was elk top round and liver mixed with peach goat cheese stuffed into pâte à choux (which is puffed pastry or an éclair dough) served with paprika honey and candied marcona almonds.
Why compete? What does your win mean to you and to Atlanta?
I’ve been cooking for 31 years and like the thrill of the grill. I thought, win or lose, it’s nice to be invited to the dance. It’s a great coup for a restaurant as far as getting some national press and also attracting people to the restaurant. I’ve got to tell you, it was a stressful hour to do the battle! Kind of like riding a bull.
People ask me if I get a trophy. I don’t, but I do get butts in chairs. If people saw the show and travel to Atlanta, they may seek out my restaurant. That can help with tourism credits for the city and keeping my business alive, which helps me retain employees. It was a great thing for me and my brother as brothers to be recognized nationally, which spearheads other things for us to do including philanthropy on a national basis, which is something we already do in our respective cities.
Do your future plans include a new restaurant?
I often look at real estate in the area and am constantly thinking of different concepts. If they bump me on the head, I go for it. I make decisions based on almost inevitability, feeling like I have to do it. I looked for a restaurant in Atlanta for six to seven years before the opportunity arose that felt perfect. Jump too fast or do too much too fast and it doesn’t work. Yet a ‘next restaurant’ is always on my mind. SP
For more information and to watch a video clip about the Iron Chef America competition, visit www.rathbunsrestaurant.com.