Ron Siegel

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Ron Siegel is an American chef working in San Francisco. He is currently Chef of the Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, taking over for Chef Sylvain Portay in 2004. Siegel is perhaps best known for his 1999 appearance on Iron Chef, becoming the first ever U.S. citizen to win in Kitchen Stadium.

[edit] History

Moving to San Francisco from New York at the age of seven, Siegel broke into the culinary world as a butcher in Palo Alto, California. Siegel enrolled at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco and in 1991 went to work as a line cook at Aqua, a seafood restaurant in the Bay Area.

In 1993, Siegel moved to New York to work at Restaurant Daniel, but only a year later he returned to work at The French Laundry in Yountville, California as a sous-chef to Thomas Keller.

A rising star in the making, Siegel left The French Laundry to become Chef of Charles Nob Hill in San Francisco in 1996, which specialized in a fusion of French and California cuisine.

[edit] Iron Chef

In 1998, Siegel gained international fame by traveling to Japan to appear as a challenger on the popular TV show Iron Chef. Siegel faced Iron Chef French Hiroyuki Sakai in a battle using the theme ingredient lobster. Siegel was at an immediate disadvantage in the competition since neither of the two sous-chefs provided for him could speak English. Siegel produced five dishes:

Egg Royale
Lobster Cream Soup with scallops and truffles
California Salad with lobster, basil oil, tomato concasséed and avocado
Lobster ravioli with sweet corn sauce
Lobster and foie gras in fig sauce

In the end, Siegel swept Sakai 4-0. In a post-battle interview, and completely in keeping with the competitive tone of the show, Siegel indicated his willingness to return and defeat all the Iron Chefs.

In 1999 Food & Wine magazine declared Siegel one of the best new chefs of the year. In 2001, Siegel left Charles Nob Hill to become executive chef of Masa's of San Francisco. Siegel remained at Masa's until June of 2004 when he took over the Dining Room of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. Focusing on French cuisine with a Japanese influence, Siegel has maintained the Dining Room's reputation as one of the top restaurants in the country.