Iron Chef Morimoto

Iron Chef Morimoto was also at the Austin Food & Wine Festival. The wa handle on his knife was pretty well worn. Here are some pics.















More pics here.

Some shots were mirrored?

Is that even possible without an equal amount of wear on the blade? It almost looks like he sanded it down although I could be very wrong. Awesome pictures as usual, thanks for sharing.

In his book he says it's just worn down. Maybe someone on the forum should make him a new handle.

Seth said:

In his book he says it's just worn down. Maybe someone on the forum should make him a new handle.

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Working on it... Well, not really, but for one of his chefs, and I asked him to show it to the boss But he'll probably prefer a more traditional method of burning it in. We'll see...

Stefan

stereo.pete said:

Is that even possible without an equal amount of wear on the blade? It almost looks like he sanded it down although I could be very wrong. Awesome pictures as usual, thanks for sharing.

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he uses a lot of scrubbies and abrasive powdered soap, like ajax or comet to clean his knives. alot of Japanese chef's do. I'm sure thats going to effect the wood over time like sand paper.

Very interesting, thanks for the insight. I still find it amazing that the wood could wear down that much.

sachem allison said:

he uses a lot of scrubbies and abrasive powdered soap, like ajax or comet to clean his knives. alot of Japanese chef's do. I'm sure thats going to effect the wood over time like sand paper.

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Why is that?

Shinob1 said:

Why is that?

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Makes it real easy to get any patina or funk off your knife. A lot of people recommend baking soda, but you're more likely to have ajax or comet near the dish sink.

your dealing with fish, fish proteins are sticky and you want your knife pristine before you cut the next one. belief is no transfer of carbon steel flavors and contaminants, just the pure taste of the fish.

sachem allison said:

he uses a lot of scrubbies and abrasive powdered soap, like ajax or comet to clean his knives. alot of Japanese chef's do. I'm sure thats going to effect the wood over time like sand paper.

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That is exactly what it is. I believe he mentions it in one of his books. I'll have to go check.

He is my fav. Celebrity Chef. I have not read anything he has written, or tried any of his food. But what he says and does from my front seat is very profound and a part of him. And yes I still want to eat at his restaurant.

Crothcipt said:

He is my fav. Celebrity Chef. I have not read anything he has written, or tried any of his food. But what he says and does from my front seat is very profound and a part of him. And yes I still want to eat at his restaurant.

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I had an 18 course meal that he made for my sous chef and I personally, back when he opened Morimoto in Philly. The bartender custom made drinks for each course, when we got ready to leave, the general manager put us up at the best hotel in town because he didn't want us to drive drunk and comped all the drinks. The meal was $700 not counting the tips and the drinks were almost the same. God, I miss making money. He is a class act and a gentleman. I would say on that weekend I had two of the top four meals of my life. Morimoto's and Pat's cheese steak sandwich.lol

Not to get off topic but anyone that's lived in Philly knows it's all about geno's!

I was real surprised how funny and fun he was. That point kind of took over the story I wrote that went with the pictures.

I don't live in Philly, I didn't know. You'll have to show me the ropes. It was my first Philly cheese steak. I'm from Cali we don't do cheese steak.

sw2geeks said:

I was real surprised how funny and fun he was. That point kind of took over the story I wrote that went with the pictures.

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He is real fun to be around when he is relaxed and doing the shows and demos. He is a little bit of a task master in the NYC restaurant . His staff gets a little scared when he arrives in the kitchen. It's his name and reputation, so I see where he is coming from. He is very Japanese/ old school French in how he runs his kitchen when he is there. The chef is God and that's it. When he isn't there the food and service suffers a little, because they relax and get a little lax in what they do.

Son +100 to the miss making money.

That is sad to hear about the restaurant when he isn't there. That shows to me someone is dropping the ball.:bat:

Seth said:

Maybe someone on the forum should make him a new handle.

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I doubt he wants a new handle. There are photos of that knife his book "Morimoto" (page 150) and he talks about the wear.
I think that wear is shown with pride.
Look at how the blades are gound down over time on some of his Yanagi's.

Dave

Any of youse who think Pat's or Geno's are great cheese steaks are nuts. They're okay but at times the steak is bland and the sandwich kind of dry. When friends come to town and can't decide on one or the other, we get both and compare. They're right across the street from each other. The very best cheese steaks are from John's Roast Pork, Tony Luke's, Chink's on Torresdale Ave. and in northeast Philly, Steve's Prince of Steaks.

Everyone has their preference as to what is the best steak sandwich.

IMO the best hot sandwich in Philadelphia is Tony Luke's Roast Pork Italian with broccoli rabe and sharp provolone.

mano said:

Everyone has their preference as to what is the best steak sandwich.

IMO the best hot sandwich in Philadelphia is Tony Luke's Roast Pork Italian with broccoli rabe and sharp provolone.

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I have to agree with mano on this one. Jim's Steaks on South St. is good too. I used to prefer Pats over Genos but I decided I like both so for me, it's just a matter of the shorter line to order because parking is a ***** - Cheez 'Wit.

schanop said:

Some shots were mirrored?

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Yes, some are shot in a mirror set up above at a 45º angle. There is a picture in of the full stage setup in the here with the rest of the pictures and story.

Always been a fan of his. Would pay good money to see him lose it like how Ramsey loses it week after week.

Crothcipt said:

He is my fav. Celebrity Chef. I have not read anything he has written, or tried any of his food. But what he says and does from my front seat is very profound and a part of him. And yes I still want to eat at his restaurant.

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I make his tuna 'pizza' fairly often...easy and very tasty. Not so much a recipe as a concept. I play around with different (hotter) peppers.

Damn, not having an ECG means we are not visiting Philly this month :-(

We gotta get up there over the summer though. We're missing too much good food and gelato, plus I need my Fantes fix! We're trying to make at least two treks there each year (with a stop off in B'more on the way home).

WildBoar said:

Damn, not having an ECG means we are not visiting Philly this month :-(

We gotta get up there over the summer though. We're missing too much good food and gelato, plus I need my Fantes fix! We're trying to make at least two treks there each year (with a stop off in B'more on the way home).

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I'm thinking of hosting and ECG but have to run it by my wife first to see what weekends are free.