Mayor Anthony A. Williams welcomes Food Network and their hit program Iron Chef America production team to Washington, DC on October 5 to select a challenger to compete in kitchen stadium. The judges will visit three of DC’s top chefs, Ris Lacoste of 1789, Morou of Signatures and Cesare Lanfranconi of Ristorante Tosca. The three chefs were nominees for Washington’s Chef of the Year Award at the 2005 RAMMY Restaurant Awards Gala and chosen to participate in the preliminary Iron Chef America Challenger Search in Washington, DC. Of those chefs, one will have a chance to win the ultimate prize, to compete on the nationally televised Iron Chef America.

“This a great chance for us to showcase some of our city’s top chefs—and at the same time showcase our magnificent city,” said Mayor Williams. “I’m truly looking forward to a spirited competition among these three teams of DC-based chefs. Let the games begin!”

This event is sponsored by the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington (RAMW), the Office of Motion Picture and TV Development, and Hisaoka Public Relations. The competition will allow the winning chef a chance to show off his or her cuisine to the entire nation and allows Washington, DC to be recognized for its world-renowned restaurants. “RAMW is thrilled that Food Network recognizes that our nation’s capital is a world class restaurant city,” says RAMW Executive Director Lynne Breaux.