'Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend': Who is Curtis Duffy? Meet the owner of two Michelin star restaurant, Ever
Calling all 'Iron Chef' fans -- if you've been waiting for a season that promises to be bigger, better and even more intense than anything you've seen before, then feast your eyes on 'Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend'. The chefs and challengers are back and this time, they're all bringing the heat!
While the series has always seen three 'Iron Chefs' take on challengers, 'Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend' will have 5 world-renowned chefs instead -- Curtis Stone, Marcus Samuelsson, Gabriela Camara, Dominique Crenn and Ming Tsai, all of whom will face 5 new challenger chefs. If you're on the prowl for culinary reality shows to sink your teeth in, you might want to consider 'MasterChef Junior' and 'MasterChef: Back to Win'.
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Who is Curtis Duffy?
Curtis Duffy is the Executive Chef and owner of Ever, a two-Michelin star restaurant in Chicago. Duffy is no stranger when it comes to bagging Michelin stars -- his previous restaurant, Grace, earned three Michelin stars for four years in a row, between 2015 to 2018. While Duffy was at Avenues at The Peninsula Hotel Chicago, the restaurant earned two Michelin stars. Apart from this, he also won the Forbes Travel Guide’s Five-Star rating, AAA’s Five-Diamond rating, and the James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef, Great Lakes Award in 2016.
Inside his career
Duffy was born in Columbus, Ohio and recognised his own passion for cooking early on. In high school, he worked for Chef John P. Souza at a private golf club, where he honed his skills. In a conversation with Escoffier, Duffy explained how his love for food began. "I grew up my first thirteen years in Colorado Springs, outside of Columbus, Ohio. I really stepped into a kitchen at the age of fourteen, washing dishes, doing those minuscule tasks that a dishwasher would do when they’re not washing dishes," he explained. "Peeling vegetables, cleaning fish, those type of things. Really fell in love with the environment, and the instant gratification for me was seeing something that was transformed from a raw state into something that was serve-able, and something that a guest would actually enjoy. That was always really exciting for me" he added.
After his time here, he began working as the Chef de Cuisine at a private club while working towards his Associate's Degree in Applied Science from Ohio State University. After graduating, Duffy worked at Charlie Trotter's and later at Trio -- his time at the latter even won him the title of 'Best Innovative Pastry Chef' from Food & Wine in 2003. He eventually ended up joining Alin as the Chef de Cuisine, before joining Avenues.
However, despite being a celebrated chef, Duffy maintains that he never did any of it for fame or glory. "For me, my mindset is that you’re always learning, and you go as far as you want to go. When I started at Avenues, even Michelin wasn’t around. When I started as a young cook, I didn’t start cooking because I wanted to garner awards and trophies or accolades, or whatever," he noted. "That was never my driving force. I think the accolades and awards, it’s a great thing. It’s recognizing that it’s something great in the field. But I think if you’re driven from that, then you’re coming from the wrong place. I think you have to be driven from within." he added.
'Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend' premieres on June 15, 2022 only on Netflix.
