Food Network Is Bringing Back ‘Iron Chef America’

Diehard fans of Iron Chef and its American spinoffs will be pleased to learn the franchise is making a comeback: Food Network will debut a new series called Iron Chef Gauntlet in spring 2017, the network revealed today.

According to Variety, “Details of the new format are thin other than it promises to offer some new twists on the cooking-showdown format.” One thing we do know, however, is that newly minted Broadway star Alton Brown will return as host.

The original Iron Chef ran from 1993 to 1999 in Japan. Food Network’s spinoff Iron Chef America debuted in 2005, and though it stopped airing new episodes in 2014, the network refused to say it was canceled — perhaps because it had a fresh reboot in mind all along?

No word yet on any of the chef talent that will be involved with the show. Previous Iron Chefs on the American edition included Bobby Flay, Mario Batali, Cat Cora, Michael Symon, Masaharu Morimoto, and Alex Guarnaschelli, among others.

Brown confirmed the news on his social media channels today, unveiling a name tag that indicates he’s being promoted to “Chairman.”

Brown teased the news of an Iron Chef America reprise in a Facebook Live video last month, also divulging that he’d “had enough” of his other hosting role on Cutthroat Kitchen. Iron Chef Gauntlet isn’t the only new Food Network show he’s working on, either: Brown also has a “late-night variety show” on deck.

• The Quest for the Ultimate Culinary Title Returns with Iron Chef Gauntlet [FN Dish]
• Food Network to Reboot ‘Iron Chef America’ Franchise [Variety]
• Food Network Denies Canceling ‘Iron Chef America’ [E]
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Watch: Alton Brown Prefers Wieners Over Fine Dining