Koumei Nakamura
Encyclopedia
, is a celebrity chef
. Most famous for being the second Japanese Iron Chef on the show, Iron Chef
, he has worked at numerous restaurants such as the Oriental Hotel in Osaka
, Nadaman in the Hotel New Otani, and the Nadaman Singapore
in the Shangri La Hotel. He later became the manager of Nadaman in the Hotel New Otani. He now has his own restaurant in Tokyo
, Ariake
. On Iron Chef he wore a purple outfit trimmed with gold in the Japanese style.
Japanese dishes had promoted the stigma among the traditionalist chefs' circle that Iron Chef was to be avoided; the second was that, in contrast to Chen or Hiroyuki Sakai, who owned their own restaurants, Nakamura was a hired chef, and thus had more riding on the line with each battle. Nakamura was ultimately convinced by an old high-school friend who he refers to as his older brother to become an Iron Chef after taking note of the fact that the Iron Chef Japanese was a one-of-a-kind position.
Nakamura is, in stark contrast to Michiba before him and Masaharu Morimoto after, considered to be more of a traditional Japanese chef that was forced to improvise due to unusual for traditional Japanese cuisine secret ingredients that tended to favor the challenger. He also appeared to be the most concerned about winning and losing - a fact that may have led him to his 24-11-1 record with one no-contest. Not surprisingly, his decisions on the dishes he made were often influenced by his bosses at Nadaman, perhaps to maintain a good corporate image although the restaurant itself ceased to care about Nakamura's performance as an Iron Chef after a year.
During his tenure as an Iron Chef, Nakamura was always compared to Michiba, who was regarded as the top Iron Chef during his tenure. It was said that Nakamura was even ostracised by his family whenever he lost, which was why Nakamura had acquired a pet Shiba dog named "Chef" one year into his tenure. Curiously, despite a sub-par overall performance as an Iron Chef, Nakamura has won the majority of battles against returning challengers going 3-1-1 and other Iron Chefs going 2-1. After a grueling battle with Toshiro Kandagawa (in which he lost), Nakamura retired from kitchen stadium in 1998 at the age of 50. His final battle was against Yukio Hattori in Tuna Battle on February 20th, 1998, a battle in which he won. He did return for Iron Chef Morimoto's one year anniversary, which was Battle Egg on March 12, 1999 (a battle in which he won).
Celebrity chef
A celebrity chef is a kitchen chef who has become famous and well known. Today celebrity chefs often become celebrities by presenting cookery advice and demonstrations via mass media, especially television. Historically, celebrity chefs have included Antoine Carême and Martino da Como.-External...
. Most famous for being the second Japanese Iron Chef on the show, Iron Chef
Iron Chef
is a Japanese television cooking show produced by Fuji Television. The series, which premiered on October 10, 1992, is a stylized cook-off featuring guest chefs challenging one of the show's resident "Iron Chefs" in a timed cooking battle built around a specific theme ingredient. The series ended...
, he has worked at numerous restaurants such as the Oriental Hotel in Osaka
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
, Nadaman in the Hotel New Otani, and the Nadaman Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
in the Shangri La Hotel. He later became the manager of Nadaman in the Hotel New Otani. He now has his own restaurant in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Ariake
Ariake
Ariake is the name of several places in Japan.*Ariake, Kagoshima, a former town in Kagoshima Prefecture*Ariake, Kumamoto, a former town in Kumamoto Prefecture*Ariake, Saga, a former town in Saga Prefecture*Ariake, Tokyo, a district within Kōtō, Tokyo...
. On Iron Chef he wore a purple outfit trimmed with gold in the Japanese style.
Iron Chef Nakamura
In the fall of 1995, Nakamura's predecessor, Rokusaburo Michiba, had fought in the first overtime battle in Kitchen Stadium, a grueling process that led to his retirement at the 1996 Mr. Iron Chef tournament. Michiba's last battle was against fellow Iron Chef Chen Kenichi, and for two months, Kitchen Stadium had only two Iron Chefs while Michiba was tasked to find a successor. During this time, Michiba had repeatedly requested Nakamura to be his successor, but Nakamura repeatedly declined due to two main factors: the first was that, at that time, Michiba's fusion-styleFusion cuisine
Fusion cuisine combines elements of various culinary traditions while not being categorized per any one particular cuisine style, and can pertain to innovations in many contemporary restaurant cuisines since the 1970s.-Categories and types:...
Japanese dishes had promoted the stigma among the traditionalist chefs' circle that Iron Chef was to be avoided; the second was that, in contrast to Chen or Hiroyuki Sakai, who owned their own restaurants, Nakamura was a hired chef, and thus had more riding on the line with each battle. Nakamura was ultimately convinced by an old high-school friend who he refers to as his older brother to become an Iron Chef after taking note of the fact that the Iron Chef Japanese was a one-of-a-kind position.
Nakamura is, in stark contrast to Michiba before him and Masaharu Morimoto after, considered to be more of a traditional Japanese chef that was forced to improvise due to unusual for traditional Japanese cuisine secret ingredients that tended to favor the challenger. He also appeared to be the most concerned about winning and losing - a fact that may have led him to his 24-11-1 record with one no-contest. Not surprisingly, his decisions on the dishes he made were often influenced by his bosses at Nadaman, perhaps to maintain a good corporate image although the restaurant itself ceased to care about Nakamura's performance as an Iron Chef after a year.
During his tenure as an Iron Chef, Nakamura was always compared to Michiba, who was regarded as the top Iron Chef during his tenure. It was said that Nakamura was even ostracised by his family whenever he lost, which was why Nakamura had acquired a pet Shiba dog named "Chef" one year into his tenure. Curiously, despite a sub-par overall performance as an Iron Chef, Nakamura has won the majority of battles against returning challengers going 3-1-1 and other Iron Chefs going 2-1. After a grueling battle with Toshiro Kandagawa (in which he lost), Nakamura retired from kitchen stadium in 1998 at the age of 50. His final battle was against Yukio Hattori in Tuna Battle on February 20th, 1998, a battle in which he won. He did return for Iron Chef Morimoto's one year anniversary, which was Battle Egg on March 12, 1999 (a battle in which he won).