as the theme, making him ultimately the only Italian challenger to beat an Iron Chef. Utilized a block of marble that was first heated using alcohol spray and a torch and then cooled with dry ice while creating and kneading his dough, which bewildered Morimoto. Joël Bruant (One win in two battles): A Tokyo-based French chef considered a French culinary ambassador to Japan, he was vice chairman of the Acaedemie Culinaire de France and a top apprentice to Paul Bocuse. He and Marashi Furutaka beat Michiba and Chen in a doubles match with sea bass as the theme, but Sakai beat him with salmon as the theme. : A group of young specialists in French cuisine. They mainly targeted Iron Chef French Sakai as a member of Club des Trentes – one of their competing groups composed of more established French chefs that included Sakai, Ishinabe and challenger Etsuo Jō – in a similar fashion, although they took on Iron Chef Chinese Chen and Iron Chef French Ishinabe once each as well. Only one of them managed a win (Kazutaka Okabe versus Sakai, in a lamb battle) despite several attempts. Tatsuo Umemiya: An actor, tarento (including on restaurant variety shows) and businessman. He lost to Michiba with horse mackerel as the theme but was invited back as a judge for some subsequent battles including the King of Iron Chefs series finale. Heichinrou (One win out of three battles): The oldest restaurant in Yokohama Chinatown sent three challengers to challenge Chen in 1998 and 1999 after deeming him worthy of their challenge. Chen beat cooking coach Hisao Yaginuma with bok choy as the theme and Mitsuo Suganuma (the first Japanese chef to head a Heichinrou branch) with shark fin as the theme before Xie Huaxian, the restaurant's grand chef, won with spiny lobster as the theme. Dr. Yukio Hattori: A gentlemen's agreement went on between the Chairman of Gourmet Academy (Kaga) and the President of Culinary Academy (Hattori) where the Doctor agreed to battle an Iron Chef. If he won, he would be given a spot alongside the Iron Chefs and if he lost he would keep working for Kaga. As he remained a commentator until the end of the series, one can easily deduce the outcomes of his two battles. Joël Robuchon was invited as a guest judge for the event, and Honorary Iron Chef Ishinabe served in a commentary