ICA, Iko

Last night marked the start of Iron Chef America's third season, and I was able to catch the program's late night/early morning showing as God and Nielsen intended. Yes, the program also airs earlier, but watching Iron Chef before midnight really neglects the full flavor of the form, like drinking a red wine that has been refrigerated.
Surprisingly, ICA is actually improving with age! For starters, the Challengers can now actually choose their opponents like their predecessors in the Japanese original. In the most recent episode, Challenger John Besh declares his intent to beat the "best chef in America" before selecting Batali.
(NOTE: I think that Lupa's a good time and all, and Otto is the only singles bar specializing in Italian Wine, not to mention the loudest; Babbo is nice, but even with the finite realm of the West Village, the establishment loses out to Il Mulino... point being, there is no way that Mario is even close to said superlative!)
Regardless, Besh's selection marked the return of "trash-talking" to the program; not since the notorious cutting board incident have we seen anything resembling a real rivalry. Instead, we are often subjected to a competition so benign and banal that I wonder if the chairman will conclude with some cheesy affirmation a la, "We're all winners tonight." Besh, a former marine, had the Iron Chef in the Bruni-esque crosshairs. The French Chef from the Big Easy casually continued his crusade throughout the remainder of the program tossing verbal volleys across the stadium much to my delight.
Another major improvement to the show included new camera angles, including a cool sky-cam type shot. Kevin Brauch's airtime has been reduced which is a necessary amputation. Further, I believe that the producers have opted to devote more time to the battle and less time to the judging; this decision is much needed given the latter segment is still maddeningly bad!
In last night's episode, the panel seemed baffled by a dish served "en gelee" devoting far too much time to a metaphor involving a treasure chest. Ahoy Polloi! Maties, Aspic is fairly common in French cooking; it is a standard at Daniel, and I even encountered it during my ill advised "incident" at Ninja. How the method appears foreign to alleged authorities on food is beyond me! Melissa Clark, a chef and author, displayed an embarrassingly inadequate knowledge of both gastronomy and the English language, but then again, I expected little more from anyone who titles a book, "Chef Interrupted."
(And yes, Bobbly Flail and Cat Cora are both still there, but at least the former is helpful in the J.R. Ewing-Love-To-Hate-Him role; as far as Sue Ellen is concerned, we can only hope that the new self-selection method of challenge reduces her appearances. )