To ensure that the rampaging VUSSR armies do not go hungry, in the
Chef category, we are proud to select the greatest Iron Chef of all:
Hiroyuki Sakai
Hiroyuki Sakai (坂井 宏行,
Sakai Hiroyuki?, born April 2, 1942 in
Kagoshima Prefecture,
Japan) is a well-known Japanese
chef who specializes in
French cuisine. Sakai is most famous for being the second, and last,
Iron Chef French on the
Japanese television show
Iron Chef, first appearing at the beginning of
1994 (after
Yutaka Ishinabe retired) and continued his appearance in shows over nine seasons. Sakai has the second best winning percentage of the Iron Chefs, trailing only his Iron Chef French predecessor, Ishinabe. His stature as the top chef on the show was formalized when he was named the "King of Iron Chefs" after emerging victorious from the show's grand finale, a tournament involving all the active Iron Chefs. He went on to defeat the top chef in the world,
Alain Passard, in the grand finale Long-Gang Chicken battle prior to the closure of the Iron Chef series. His record on Iron Chef is 70-15-1.
Over the course of the series, Sakai became famous for being a ladies man; his smooth personality and friendly attitude certainly helped in this regard. His television trademark is a red French chef's costume; he rises into
Kitchen Stadium holding a
nashi pear in his hand. He is often described as the "
Delacroix of
French cuisine" because of the presentation of his dishes.
Sakai was originally asked to be on
Iron Chef by the producer
Toshihiko Matsuo following the recommendation from hotel restaurateur
Kihachi Kumagai. Sakai agreed after being convinced by his staff, believing the impression that the show would air for another six months, giving him two or three appearances. The six-month tenure, as it turned out, turned into six years. The early era of
Iron Chef saw Sakai being the "middle Iron Chef" along with
Rokusaburo Michiba, a chef twelve years his senior, and
Chen Kenichi, the youngest and least experienced of the three Iron Chefs at the time. It is often viewed by fans as the period when
Iron Chef had the strongest Iron Chefs.
Reactions to Sakai's appointment to Iron Chef were largely negative amongst chefs circles, largely because of the low stature of
Iron Chef among chefs at the time which led many to believe would ruin their reputations as chefs, but others also believing that there was no possibility that any French dish would take less than one hour to prepare. However, as the show became more popular, chefs, judges, and fans became more supportive. It was said that Sakai's son's employer had his employees frequent the restaurant as a show of support.
Like many chefs, Sakai did not take to losing very well. Upon his first loss, he had tried to be cheerful in explaining his loss to a younger chef who also owned his own restaurant, but his entire staff was mortified upon hearing the news. His daughter was teased in school whenever Sakai had lost - although this was a fairly rare occurrence. In an effort to learn from others, Sakai often tasted food opponents had prepared, or grabbed assistants and asked them questions after the battle was over.
Outside of
Iron Chef, Sakai is the owner and head chef of the
restaurant La Rochelle, originally in
Aoyama but now in
Shibuya. The restaurant was named after
La Rochelle, a city in France where Sakai had spent some time as an apprentice. Sakai is a member of the
Club des Trente, an organization of French chefs in Japan. Sakai was mentored by the Japan's pioneer of French Cooking,
Fujio Shido for three years.
After the series' run, Sakai appeared in several
Iron Chef specials. In the "New York Special," he gave a presentation to the
Culinary Institute of America on the preparation of salmon, assisted by Iron Chef Italian
Masahiko Kobe. He also appeared on
Iron Chef America : Battle of the Masters, where he lost a
trout battle to
Bobby Flay (during which he created a trout-flavored
ice cream) and teamed up with
Mario Batali in a seafood battle.
In 2009, Sakai was named a recipient of the Gendai no Meiko (Contemporary Master Craftsmen) awards, honoring Japan's foremost artisans in various fields.
In 2004, developers of several American institutions named the new open source course management software after Chef Sakai. The naming of the new software (See
Sakai Project)
[1] was intended as a pun on the acronym of the old program it was designed to replace - the CompreHensive collaborativE Framework (CHEF).
[2]
In 2010, Sakai was a guest judge for the
Masterchef Australia Season 2 finals week.