Chef Kent Rathbun, Moderator of Iron Fork's Chef Challenge, Knows What It Takes to Win

Iron Fork will have plenty of pleasant tasting opportunities for people at Fair Park on April 27. But on the main stage, it will be war.  

Two baskets full of ingredients will await Jermaine Brown of Julia Pearl Southern Cuisine and Oliver Sitrin of The Blind Butcher. Each one is expected to make something great with what they've got and outshine the other chef. 

“There is quite a competition going on,” says chef and restaurateur Kent Rathbun. Rathbun is moderating the Chef Challenge, where two chefs open up a basket full of ingredients from Whole Foods. “It’s going to be a really cool little competition and should be fun to watch on stage, and it will be good entertainment. This is a very fast and furious kind of deal.”  

Last year, Casa Rubia’s Omar Flores took the win over two-year reigning Matt McCallister of FT33. Next week, the competition will feature Brown, who’s skilled in Southern cuisine, and Sitrin, who’s known as an expert when it comes to meats, whether curing or making sausage.

Rathbun has advice for those cooking at this year's Iron Fork, both the competing chefs and the several dozen restaurants serving up eats: Stay focused on the food. “Now you’re in front of hundreds of people," he says. "Whatever you’re doing, they have to say 'that was delicious.'"

Whole Foods Market Presents the Dallas Observer Iron Fork 2016, 7-10 p.m. April 27, Centennial Hall at Fair Park, 1001 Washington St. Tickets $45-90.