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Cantu Goes Down In Iron Chef Rematch; Plans iNG Pop-Up Swap With Bread & Wine

In 2006 Homaro Cantu of Moto and iNG was one of the few Chicago chefs to ever win on Iron Chef America, defeating Iron Chef Morimoto in Battle Beets. But like Ralph Macchio in The Karate Kid, Morimoto trained for a rematch. And last night, in an episode where the challenge ingredient was herring (and which was filmed long enough ago that Baume & Brix’s Nate Parks was on Cantu’s team), Morimoto won a convincing victory over Cantu, who included a Miracle Berry course among other exotica on his menu. Cantu was gracious about Morimoto’s victory, saying on Facebook “He totally deserved the win. An amazing performance.”

In the meantime, Cantu announced a pair of pop-up dinners in which his downtown restaurant iNG will trade places with a much more conventional neighborhood spot: Bread & Wine, a farm to table restaurant in the Irving Park neighborhood. According to the announcement, “iNG Restaurant and Chef Homaro Cantu will be serving an Iron Chef inspired Menu over at Bread & Wine, while Chef Curtis Gamble and the Bread & Wine team will be serving up nose to tail country styles plates with a new school twist at iNG!” The two restaurants will trade places on both March 12th and 13th, thus making it possible for you to attend both five-course meals with pairings, which are priced at $120 all inclusive. Here’s the movie Cantu’s team made to announce the dinners:

Reservations for both sets of dinners are being managed by TableHost; go here for iNG at Bread & Wine reservations, here for Bread & Wine at iNG.

Cantu Goes Down In Iron Chef Rematch; Plans iNG Pop-Up Swap With Bread & Wine