Iron Chef History: Morimoto is the third Japanese Iron Chef. Known as the "Silver Iron Chef", his debut battle was aired in Japan on 2/27/98. Morimoto is different than previous Japanese Iron Chefs since he's spent most of his culinary career in the United States and experiments with fusion cuisine. Because of Morimoto's US connection, there's an American flag on the back of Morimoto's outfit.
Restaurant: When Iron Chef was being taped, Morimoto was the head chef at Nobu in New York City. Since November 2000, Morimoto has been retired and working on opening his own place in Philadelphia "Morimoto Masaharu." It looks like it may open in September of 2001.
Background: Morimoto sports an earring, which is unusual for the Japanese. He originally started out playing baseball, but after an injury, turned to cooking instead. He came to New York about 15 years ago and has been living here ever since. At first, they made a big deal about how Morimoto would drink Coca-Cola in the Kitchen Stadium. Morimoto's own cooking style is more fusion as he often combines non-Japanese elements into his food. It's this "edginess" that led the producers to select him as the next Japanese Iron Chef.