Iron Fork — a Dallas Observer food event bringing together dozens of Dallas' best restaurants for a night of food-sampling and beer-, cocktail- and wine-enjoying — is returning to Centennial Hall at Fair Park at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 1. Along with a night of eating and drinking from more than 40 local restaurants, Iron Fork offers guests the opportunity to watch two chefs face off in a live cooking competition. This year, that competition will be more heated than ever, because the World Food Championships will bring WFC champs to compete in a "food sport challenge" at the event.
This year's chef competition will be moderated by Mike McCloud, president and CEO of the World Food Championships. Two chefs, Aundre Blassingame of WFC Team Texas and Keith Browning of
The Meat Shop, will duke it out for a "golden ticket" to this year's World Food Championship main event, which will be held in Dallas.
The World Food Championship, dubbed "the ultimate food sport event," is coming to Dallas for the first time in October, when the tournament will set up on the Reunion Tower lawn. "This five-day cooking tournament will attract more than 1,500 chefs and cooks from around the world, all trying to win their share of over $300,000 in cash while the TV cameras are rolling and the clock is ticking," according to a press release. "Hailed by ABC’s Nightline as the 'Olympics of Food,' WFC will also have numerous tasty attractions for Dallas foodies. Dozens of live demos from celebrity chefs will occur on the MAXimus Culinary Semi-Truck (as seen on Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours to Hell and Back), while festival attendees can enjoy thousands of caloric goodies in the Walmart Tasting Village."
But before WFC comes to Reunion Tower, they'll put two chefs to the ultimate culinary test at Iron Fork.
“We are so excited to be a part of this great culinary event and introduce ourselves to Dallas foodies,” McCloud said in the release. “WFC is no stranger to epic food fights such as Iron Fork. We are looking forward to helping take this event to the next level and give audiences a taste of what to expect at our Main Event in October.”
Much like in years past, the two chefs will be presented with a basket of food and a secret ingredient they must incorporate into their featured dish. The winning chef will claim the title of Iron Chef.
If you have yet to snag tickets to this year's Iron Fork, there's still time — a $45 general admission ticket gets you into the event for ample food, wine, cocktail and beer sampling (plus a ticket to the World Food Championship event), and a $75 VIP ticket gets you into the event an hour early to beat the line, along with complimentary valet before 6:30 p.m. This year's restaurant lineup is pretty stacked. Find more information on Iron Fork's website.