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L'Etoile chef/owner Tory Miller will appear on the new Food Network show "Iron Chef Showdown" next month, but can't say how he fared in the competition or what ingredients he used in the food he prepared.

It was the James Beard Award-winning chef's first time in Los Angeles and his first time ever in a food competition.

"It was definitely a blast and just super cool to represent Madison and Wisconsin on that stage," Miller, 42, said. "It was a lot of fun and kind of crazy. It's hard to know what's going to happen when you sign up for these things."

Miller, a part-owner of Deja Food Group — which runs the local restaurants L'Etoile, Graze, Sujeo and Estrellón — will face Jenner Tomaska of Next Restaurant in Chicago. The episode is scheduled to air at 8 p.m. Dec. 13. The winner of the showdown faces Iron Chef Bobby Flay.

He'd met Flay before in New York, but enjoyed seeing him again and working with the show's production crew, Miller said.

The filming, done over the summer, was interesting, he said, and involved a lot of "hurry up and wait." But Miller was happy to finally get out to L.A.