Well Fed Network

Posted by Madeline Miller on Edible TV.

The Dallas Morning News recently featured local chef Tim Love, who is definitely on his way to becoming a hometown hero.  In an epic battle that the newspaper calls ”The Cowboy Meets the Samurai,” Love will be taking on chef Masaharu Morimoto on the Food Network’s Iron Chef America.

Love is an entirely self-taught chef who is among the most visible restaurateurs in Dallas.  He started with a Fort Worth restaurant called Lonesome Dove Western Bistro, with an adjoining bar called the White Elephant Saloon. He then added two more, Duce and Love Shack.

Love has more than just Iron Chef going on. He will make an appearance on the Food Network’s $10,000 luau in Hawaii. Soon he will start selling enameled cast-iron cookware, knifeware, glassware and tableware, the Tim Love Collection, on the Home Shopping Network.  These endeavors seem to pale in comparison to his previous ones:

One year ago, Mr. Love had a single Fort Worth restaurant, But then, he’s made a habit of seeking out challenges. He did a trail drive from Fort Worth to New York in 2003 to gather ingredients for a dinner at the James Beard House, and the journey was featured on CNN and NBC’s Today show. A second trail drive, to Los Angeles in 2004, benefited the culinary foundation Spoons Across America. That adventure was turned into a Food Network special, Cowboys on the Trail, and earned a James Beard Award nomination.

Tim Love’s up for almost anything. Run Fort Worth’s raucous White Elephant Saloon? Bottle his own sauces and Napa Valley wines? Start every dinner shift by downing a shot of Tuaca liqueur with his staff at 5 p.m.? Act as his own general contractor and turn a Stockyards beer garden into a family-friendly burger shack?

Why not?

Sounds like a worthy opponent for one of the original Iron Chefs, don’t you think?  I’ll definitely be watching this one.  You can find the air times for this episode here.

Photo from Food Network.