Chef Michael Symon, of Lola and Lolita in Cleveland, bested New Orlean’s finest chef John Besh to earn the title of the Next Iron Chef last night on Food Network. I didn’t grow up a foodie, and so when I got my first job after college in Cleveland and had some disposable income, he was one of the first chefs to really take me beyond meat and potatoes. One of the first dishes I ever cooked for friends was his rosemary goat cheese mac and cheese. Cleveland’s bad boy of cuisine is also a generous guy. When I was first getting Hungry off the ground and recording early podcasts, he didn’t blink an eye at granting an hour of his time when an unknown journalist from Chicago came calling. We wish him the best in his new role. In the meantime, catch up with the newest Iron Chef with this podcast