Allez Cuisine!
The call to arms (roughly translated, it means "go and cook") is heard on Food Network's "Iron Chef America."
Chef Kim Kringlie, a 1978 graduate of Grand Forks Central High School and chef/owner of Restaurant Cuvee in New Orleans, answered the call in an episode which airs at 8 p.m. Sunday on the Food Network, Grand Forks cable Channel 34.
Chef Kringlie will be in a support role to his executive chef, Bob Iacovone, along with Chef Brent Bonds from the Virgin Islands.
The battle pits two teams of chefs against one another in "Kitchen Stadium" where they have 60 minutes to create five dishes based around a "secret ingredient." A panel of three judges determines the winner based on taste, plating and originality. Kringlie's team takes on Iron Chef Bobby Flay.
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"The 60 minutes in Kitchen Stadium is the fastest 60 minutes of your life," said Kringlie. "There is always quite a bit of pressure in your restaurants or even catering events, but for the most part, you are in your own environment. In Kitchen Stadium, you don't know how the equipment works, where it is, how hot the flame on the stove gets, and you constantly have cameramen with cords and wires following you around. I have done quite a bit of TV, but this was the most stressful due to the time factor."
Kringlie is the son of Grand Forks residents Roger and Julie Kringlie. Kringlie and his three older brothers all began their culinary careers under family friend and mentor, Darcy Fonder, who died at the time Kim was leaving for New York for the taping of the show. He started at age 15 working at the Bronze Boot.
"Through high school, I worked both at the Boot and Darcy's Cafe," said Kringlie. "I left Grand Forks the day after graduating from Central for Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to work for one of my brothers in a hotel."
He's been in Louisiana since 1983 and won numerous awards including New Orleans Magazine's "Best Chef" and "Best New Restaurant" in 2001.
"Who would of thunk it, a mashed potato and gravy flatlander from North Dakota," Kringlie said.
Chef Kringlie also owns The Dakota Restaurant, just north across Lake Pontchartrain in Covington, La. This fall, he's opening a new concept in downtown New Orleans called Rambla with both French and Spanish food. It will be located two blocks from Canal Street and the French Quarter.
Kringlie's schedule makes it difficult to return to the Grand Forks area. Often, it's to spend time up at his parents' place on Lake of the Woods, where he hangs up his apron.
"He likes home cooking," said his mother.
