View source for Masahiko Kobe

{{Short description|Japanese chef (1969–2019)}}
{{Infobox chef <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox chef/doc]] -->
| image = Masahiko Kobe.jpg
| caption =
| birth_date  = {{Birth date|1969|10|15}}
| birth_place = [[Yamanashi, Yamanashi|Yamanashi]], Japan
| death_date  = {{death date and age|2019|03|14|1969|10|15}}
| death_place = [[Tokyo]], Japan
| style       = [[Italian cuisine]]
| education   = 
| restaurants =
| television  = ''[[Iron Chef]]''
| prevrests
| website     =
}}
{{nihongo|'''Masahiko Kobe'''|神戸 勝彦|Kōbe Masahiko|October 15, 1969 – March 14, 2019}} was a [[celebrity chef]] specializing in [[Italian cuisine]], most notable as the "Iron Chef Italian" on the [[television series]] ''[[Iron Chef]]'', where he appeared wearing a chef's uniform decorated like the Italian Flag (green, white and red) and holding a tomato (in some episodes, an apple).

==Biography==
According to the ''Iron Chef'' storylines, Kobe was slated to be an Iron Chef in 1993, but was considered too young and immature. To fix this issue, he moved to Italy for about 4 years to train, becoming the fourth Iron Chef upon his arrival home. In reality, Kobe had little to do with the show before he moved to Italy (although he was aware of the show's existence), and was asked to be on ''Iron Chef'' near the end of the four years.<ref name="IronChefBook">{{cite book |author=Fuji Television |year=2004 |title=Iron Chef: The Official Book |publisher=The Berkley Publishing Group |pages=[https://archive.org/details/ironchef00fuji/page/151 151–158] |isbn=978-0-425-19407-2 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/ironchef00fuji/page/151 }}</ref>

Originally believing that he would be a challenger, Kobe found out that he was to be an Iron Chef mere days before his departure from Italy.<ref name="IronChefBook"/>  Because of his quick turnaround from culinary apprentice to Iron Chef, Kobe is often considered to be a "junior Iron Chef", having little experience compared to the other Iron Chefs.

Kobe, unlike his three fellow chefs, typically rises alone in [[Kitchen Stadium]], many times accompanied by a group of [[violin|violins]] playing 'Stoning' by [[Sahashi Toshihiko]]. It was also to be noted that challenging chefs who were to face Kobe always had the fact explicitly mentioned during the challenger's bio, something that was rarely done with the other three Iron Chefs.

Kobe, known as the "Prince of Pasta",<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-06-12 |title=Where are the original Iron Chefs from the hit 90s reality TV show now? |url=https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/leisure/article/3181217/where-are-original-iron-chefs-now-netflix-rebooted-1990s |access-date=2025-02-22 |website=South China Morning Post |language=en}}</ref> is the only Iron Chef to have lost his opening battle–with pasta as its theme. Out of concern for his apparent time mismanagement during the battle, subsequent battles he ran to the theme ingredient stand in the opening seconds (compared to his opponents who simply walked) in order for him to gain precious seconds that could be used for cooking. His tenure as an Iron Chef saw him battling in 24 battles, with a 16–7–1 record. He is also the only Iron Chef to lose a dessert battle, though he is one of three Iron Chefs to have never lost consecutive battles, nor did he lose against an Italian chef after his opening loss, going 7–0.

After ''Iron Chef'', Kobe opened his own restaurant, the Ristorante Massa, in the Ebisu district of Tokyo, in 2000.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gower |first=Eric |date=October 2000 |title=Restaurant: Massa |url=https://www.japaninc.com/article.php?articleID=466 |access-date=2025-02-22 |website=www.japaninc.com |language=en}}</ref> In the post-series New York Battle special in 2000, he assisted Iron Chef French [[Hiroyuki Sakai]] in delivering a lecture on preparing salmon to students at the [[Culinary Institute of America]]. One of his signature dishes was [[Trofie|trofies]] stuffed with chocolate.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How to cook like an Iron Chef |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/food/article/how-to-cook-like-an-iron-chef/mlb6r7f1y |access-date=2025-02-22 |website=SBS Food |language=en}}</ref>

He died on March 14, 2019, aged 49, from injuries sustained in a fall at one of his restaurants.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nikkansports.com/entertainment/news/201903190000519.html |title=「料理の鉄人」神戸勝彦さん死去 鎧塚俊彦氏ら追悼 - おくやみ : 日刊スポーツ |date=2019-03-19 |website=nikkansports.com |language=ja |access-date=2019-03-20 |archive-date=2019-03-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190320134927/https://www.nikkansports.com/entertainment/news/201903190000519.html |url-status=live }}</ref> 

==Notes==
<references/>

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kobe, Masahiko}}
[[Category:1969 births]]
[[Category:2019 deaths]]
[[Category:Japanese chefs]]
[[Category:Chefs of Italian cuisine]]
[[Category:People from Yamanashi Prefecture]]
[[Category:Komazawa University alumni]]
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== External links ==

* {{IMDb name|id=nm0556035}}
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