Tommy Mothershead is a big Iron Chef fan who has appeared on the show twice. His favourite is Iron Chef Japanese Morimoto Masaharu, and on Tommy's first appearance he reported that he especially likes the way Morimoto yells at his assistants. Tommy watches the show religiously, and likes to play at being an Iron Chef himself, making his sister taste his creations. We see a shot of cute curly-topped little Tommy, who is perhaps 6 or 8, using large plastic toy utensils to serve his imaginary food to said sister. The camera cuts before we can find out her judgement. We also don't see if Tommy likes to yell at his sister, but as a sister myself, I'll wager he does.
On the eve of the big New York battle which pits Morimoto against American chef Bobby Flay, Morimoto is preparing for the coming big day when he hears someone calling that they have come to wish him luck. Who could it be, Morimoto asks in mock surprise? It's young Tommy and his mom and dad, come all the way from Arizona to see Tommy's hero in action. Tommy sports his very own Iron Chef costume, made by his mother for Hallowe'en. In a little voice, Tommy tells Morimoto he wants him to beat Bobby Flay. "Beat Bobby Flay," he reiterates, "because you can!" "I feel like Babe Ruth promising I'll win," quips Morimoto, who, as this sequence demonstrates, is a better chef than an actor.
The next day we see the family, sans sister (I see a complex coming on) outside Webster Hall, site of the battle. Tommy is quivering with excitement. Cameras catch him inside at strategic moments during the battle, trying to see over the heads of all the adults around him, straining to hear over the roar of the crowd.
After the contest is over and Morimoto has secured his victory, he seeks Tommy out in the audience and offers to trade chef's hats with him. He grabs little Tommy's hat, which mysteriously fits on his big head, and places his own on that little one.
Granted that the Iron Chef is as much pageantry and pretense as reality, and given that one feels suspicious about where exactly the producers managed to find this child with the unlikely name; still, it is quite touching to see twitchy gruff Morimoto seize this little boy's hand for a grateful squeeze once the battle is over.
Lending credence to the story of this young fan of Morimoto, Tommy is present again at the rematch between the two chefs, dubbed by the narrator "The Tango in Tokyo". Tommy, it appears, has had elocution lessons, and this time, when asked why he likes Morimoto, says clearly, "He's very good with knives." He confirms that the hat he's wearing is the one Morimoto gave him, and when queried as to whether he wants the Iron Chef to win, says "Absolutely!"
All his cheering comes to naught, however, for in the end Chairman Kaga must announce, his mouth in a moue of disbelief and disapproval, that Flay is the winner. Tommy is downcast and deeply dismayed. Poor tyke. But such is life.