Iron Fork 2012 Is One Week Away!

By Ian Froeb Fri., Mar. 16 2012 at 2:04 PM

Categories: From the Desk of Gut Check

Oh, hello. Ian here on behalf of Gut Check. You know, we often use exclamation points in our headlines -- usually ironically or sarcastically or because our finger slipped and we're too lazy to fix the typo. In this case, however, we really are excited.

Next Thursday, March 22, is our annual Iron Fork event, featuring food samples from 30 restaurants, a cocktail competition between twelve mixologists and bartenders (we'll let each contestant decide which of the two terms he or she prefers) and, the main event, an Iron Chef-style battle between four local chefs. And -- and! -- the live emcees for Iron Fork will be none other than the crew from the St. Louis food, drink and restaurant podcast StewedSTL.

The cost for all this entertainment? $35 ($45 at the door), which includes unlimited food samples and three drinks.

Let's focus on the chef battle for a moment. This year, returning champion Carl Hazel of the Scottish Arms (and, soon, Eleven Eleven Mississippi) takes on challengers Jason Tilford of Milagro Modern Mexican, Cassy Vires of Home Wine Kitchen and Jonathan Olson of Market Grill.

That, my friends, is an impressive field. Whose cuisine will reign supreme? What will they have to cook with? Who will the Stewed crew insult first? Come to Iron Fork to find out!