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Hiroyuki sakai family

Sakai is best known as the second, final, and longest-serving Iron Chef French on the Japanese television show Iron Chef , first appearing at the beginning of after Yutaka Ishinabe retired and continuing to appear over the show's nine further seasons. He was named the "King of Iron Chefs" after emerging victorious from the show's grand finale, a tournament involving all the active Iron Chefs.

He went on to defeat the top chef in the world, Alain Passard , in the final Long-Gang Chicken battle. His record on Iron Chef is 70—15—1. His television trademark is a red French chef's costume; he rises into Kitchen Stadium holding a yonashi "Western Pear" in his hand. He is often described as the " Delacroix of French cuisine " because of the presentation of his dishes.

His formidable record in fish challenges led to fans of the show giving him the nickname, "Seafood Sakai". Sakai was originally asked to be on Iron Chef by the producer Toshihiko Matsuo following the recommendation from hotel restaurateur Kihachi Kumagai. Sakai agreed after being convinced by his staff, believing the impression that the show would air for another six months, giving him two or three appearances.

The six-month tenure, as it turned out, turned into six years. The early era of Iron Chef saw Sakai being the "middle Iron Chef" along with Rokusaburo Michiba , a chef twelve years his senior, and Chen Kenichi , the youngest and least experienced of the three Iron Chefs at the time.

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It is often viewed by fans as the period when Iron Chef had the strongest Iron Chefs. Reactions to Sakai's appointment to Iron Chef were largely negative amongst chefs circles, largely because of the low stature of Iron Chef among chefs at the time which led many to believe would ruin their reputations as chefs, but others also believing that there was no possibility that any French dish would take less than one hour to prepare.

However, as the show became more popular, chefs, judges, and fans became more supportive. It was said that Sakai's son's employer had his employees frequent the restaurant as a show of support. Like many chefs, Sakai did not take to losing very well.