Turkey and the Wolf’s Mason Hereford Will Compete on This Season of ‘Iron Chef’

One of the most popular cooking competition shows of all time, Iron Chef America, is getting a reboot next month on Netflix. Along with six big-time chefs from around the country, Turkey and the Wolf owner and New Orleans chef Mason Hereford will be a competitor, Hereford announced on Instagram this week.

Again hosted by Alton Brown as well as Top Chef season 10 winner Kristen Kish, the first season of Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend, will see seven new Challenger chefs compete against returning Iron Chefs, celebrity chefs and cookbook writers like Marcus Samuelsson, Gabriela Camara, and Dominique Crenn. Luckily, Mark Dacascos will be back as the chairman, and judges Andrew Zimmern and Nilou Motamed will also return, with guest judges to include Wolfgang Puck, Masaharu Morimoto, Nancy Silverton, and Francis Lam. Ultimately, the most successful Challenger chef will compete in a grand finale to be named the first-ever ‘Iron Legend.’”

Hereford’s been a buzzy figure in the food world since popping up on the New Orleans dining scene in 2014 with sandwich shop Turkey and the Wolf. It drew attention for playful reinventions of childhood favorites and game-changing sandwiches, recognized by Bon Appétit as America’s Best New Restaurant in 2017. In recent years, Hereford’s landed a Duke’s mayonnaise endorsement, opened a second restaurant in New Orleans, breakfast spot Molly’s Rise and Shine, and published a forthcoming cookbook (copies of which may or may not be at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean after a shipping container collapse in January).

Including Hereford, here are this season’s Challenger Chef competitors:

• Esther Choi, New York City

• Curtis Duffy, Chicago

• Gregory Gourdet, Portland

• Mason Hereford, New Orleans

• Mei Lin, Los Angeles

• Claudette Zepeda, San Diego

• Yia Vang, Minneapolis

Eight, 45-minute episodes of Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend start streaming on Netflix on June 15 .