'Iron Chef' Spinoff Throws Down Gauntlet For 2 Chicago Chefs

CHICAGO, IL — Two prominent Chicago chefs will compete next month in a new spinoff of the popular "Iron Chef" cooking competition TV show.

Sarah Grueneberg of Monteverde and Stephanie Izard of Girl & the Goat, Duck Duck Goat and Little Goat are among the seven chefs who will compete in "Iron Chef Gauntlet" on Food Network. The series premieres April 16, and it will be hosted by "Iron Chef America" and "The Next Iron Chef" presenter Alton Brown.

In the spinoff, which the network is calling a reboot of the "Iron Chef" franchise, the seven contestants will battle one another until one chef remains. He or she then will face the three-ringed culinary gauntlet of Bobby Flay, Masaharu Morimoto and Michael Symon in order to claim the Iron Chef title.

Grueneberg and Izard are no strangers to showcasing their cooking skills on TV competition series. They've both appeared on Bravo's "Top Chef'"; Izard was the winner in 2008 (season 4), and Grueneberg was the runner-up in 2012 (season 9). In fact, Izard, who also competed on "Iron Chef" in 2012, was not only her season's winner, which was set in Chicago, she was the series' first female champion.

Here's a look at the two chefs' backgrounds, according to their Food Network bios:

Sarah Grueneberg

A Texas native, Grueneberg moved to Chicago in 2005 to work at Spiaggia, where she became executive chef in 2010 and helped the restaurant earn a one-star Michelin rating for three consecutive years. With longtime friend Meg Sahs, she opened the West Loop's Monteverde Restaurant & Pastificio in November of 2015.

Stephanie Izard

In March of 2016, Izard made it a trifecta of goat-named eateries, opening Duck Duck Goat in the West Loop. That location joined Girl & the Goat and Little Goat in the group of Chicago restaurants where she is the executive chef/partner. Izard won the James Beard Best Chef honor for the Great Lakes region in 2013, and Food & Wine named her Best New Chef in 2011.

Iron Chef Gauntlet

• When: 8 p.m. April 16
• Network: Food Network

Sarah Grueneberg (left) and Stephanie Izard (photos by Eddy Chen | Food Network)

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