| 10/5/2007 9:48:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | Salida chef challenges Iron Chef Bobby Flay
By Jennifer Dempsey - Special to The Mail
Kurt Boucher of Salida will challenge legendary Iron Chef Bobby Flay in the Food Network Channel Kitchen Stadium at 10 p.m. Sunday.
Boucher, 36, moved to Salida five months ago to open his restaurant, The Butcher's Table. He is the first chef from Colorado to compete on the cooking show.
"It's a once in a lifetime thing," Boucher said. "It was the fastest hour of my life. "They have four different chefs to go up against and I went up against Bobby Flay.
"They give you, ahead of time, three possible ingredients to make, maybe five recipes. We had arctic char fish, quail or celery. You don't find out which ingredient you have (to work with on the show) until you get into their kitchen a couple hours before."
Boucher won't reveal if he won the competition against Flay. But he did say he wants Flay to visit The Butcher's Table.
"Actually what I want to do is a throw-down with Bobby Flay," he said. "It's where he goes to a restaurant and checks it out ... but I also would like to compete against the other Iron Chefs too."
Boucher was spotted as a culinary talent by "some of the big name clientele" who frequented the Pine Creek Cookhouse in Aspen where he worked for several years as a chef.
"The CEO of the Cheesecake Factory was a big client there and he said he'd bring in the producers of the Iron Chef show, but you know how people talk ... so I didn't expect anything," he said.
But, true to his word, the CEO contacted Iron Chef producers and last October Boucher was flown to the meat-packing district in New York City to compete against one of the biggest names in culinary arts.
"He (Flay) is a pretty nice guy. Kind of cocky, but you have to be when you have all those high expectations to meet," Boucher said. "I could have gone that route, but I preferred not to. I'm not corporate, that's not me."
He continued, "It was definitely an honor going on the show, but this is my dream come true - my own restaurant in a small town where people are friendly and I can work with the community. This is exactly what I was looking for."
The Butcher's Table will be at 124 F St. and is due to open later this month. With a staff of 18, a wine list of as many as 65 offerings, and an open kitchen, Butcher's Table will offer a variety of lunch menus with prices ranging from $6.95 to $13.95 and dinner menus ranging from $16.95 to $27.95.
"Our big hit is the three course pre-fix menu," he said, "an appetizer, entree and dessert for $22.95. I don't think you can beat that.
"Our prices are comparable to Laughing Ladies and Twisted Cork. We're not trying to go off on a tangent. We want to cater to locals and work with the community.
"We offer a lot of vegetarian cuisine and we use local produce, Scanga meats ... and work with local farmers. We believe in self-sustainability 100 percent. We work with nothing but the freshest and best ingredients.
"When you start out with that you get the best product."
Boucher studied culinary arts at Johnson and Wales University in Rhode Island before moving to Aspen to work at Pine Creek Cookhouse.
"But I have been cooking since I was 13 years old," he said. "Food definitely is a passion for me. I work, sleep, eat, dream about it.
"There is something that draws me to it. It's definitely an art form. I like textures of food, hard, soft, and balancing taste. Presentation is huge. People see before they eat. They see, smell, then eat."
Boucher said he's had some comments about the name of his restaurant.
"The reason we came out with that name is that my last name is Boucher which means butcher in French," he said. "Some people had issues with the name. It doesn't mean we just serve meat. We serve fresh fish and lots of vegetarian dishes. It's because of my last name we named it The Butcher's Table."
Regarding stress of the restaurant business he said, "You definitely have to be an adrenaline junkie," he laughed. "I love being on the line."
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