Iron Chef Michael Symon of Cleveland is busy taping two new television shows, one for the Cooking Channel that debuted last week and another set to premiere in the fall on the Food Network.
Cooking Channel’s Cook Like an Iron Chef puts Symon behind the counter showing how to prepare three dishes from one ingredient. ”It’s a straight-up teaching kind of cooking show. I can’t express how excited I am about it,” Symon said when we chatted recently about the show.
As a chef, he said, he’s proudest of his ability to teach what he knows. Chefs he taught years ago are now fantastic chefs in their own right. Being able to pass on one’s talent is ”the greatest thing a chef can do,” Symon said.
With the show, Symon said, he’ll be able to do that for a large audience. ”Being able to reach a broader audience is super exciting,” he said.
Working with one ingredient, such as spring peas or halibut, in much the same way he does on Iron Chef America, Symon is creating restaurant-quality dishes in real time. The show debuted last week and airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. on the Cooking Channel.
The second show, Food Feuds, will debut on Food Network in October.
Symon confirmed that the show is poking around Akron for subject matter, with a burger feud between Swensons and Skyway and a Barberton chicken house battle under consideration as possible topics.
”We will definitely make some Cleveland-Akron-area appearances,” he said.
Symon, who owns Lola and Lolita in Cleveland, Bar Symon in Avon Lake, the B Spot in Woodmere and at Quicken Loans Arena, and Roast in Detroit, said he may venture into Akron eventually.
Symon and his business partner are looking to expand their B Spot burger restaurants throughout Northeast Ohio, and he said Akron could easily become home to one.
As a native Clevelander who remains so loyal to his hometown, I had to ask Symon what he thought of LeBron James’ departure.
”I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t sad,” Symon said. ”He ate at my restaurants since he was a young man. He’s always been a real gentleman to me.”
Symon respects James’ right to make his own career choices, but added, ”I wish he would have handled it a little better.” Symon said the immaturity that James displayed in the way he announced his departure was ”as sad to me as him actually leaving the city.”
”He’s still a kid,” Symon said, noting that he keeps reminding himself that James is just 25 years old, which to him explains a lot about they way James chose to publicly reject Cleveland.
One final Symon note: His Food for Life benefit Sunday, which was featured in last week’s Food Notes column has been moved to Symon’s restaurant, Lola Bistro, from the State Theatre in Cleveland. Lola is at 2058 E. Fourth St., Cleveland. For tickets or information, call Lola at 216-344-3346.
