Iron Chef Talks Food, Freedom, and the Future of American Cuisine

“What we’ve witnessed in the past 25 or 30 years is just
incredible,” says Iron Chef Geoffrey
Zakarian about the culinary revolution in America. “We’ve
birthed 30,000 or 40,000 restaurants. I used to go to Europe every
year to get experience [and ideas]. I don’t go to Europe anymore. I
go to Oregon, I go to Washington. I go to Louisiana, I go to Little
Rock. I go to Austin. I travel New York City. I don’t go to Europe
anymore.”

In a wide-ranging interview with Reason’s Nick Gillespie held at
The Lambs Club on November 5, the night before the
annual Reason Media
Awards, Zakarian talks about why America’s cuisine has become a
hotbed of innovation and experimentation, how tough it is to make
it in the restaurant business under the best of circumstances, and
how food nannies are preventing even-better cuisine. “I can’t use
[raw milk] cheese without running afoul of the health inspectors,”
he says.

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