When all the ribs and racks of meats were prepared to perfection, Philadelphia chef Jose Garces, known for his Latin flavors, emerged victorious from Sunday's season finale of 'The Next Iron Chef.'

Garces beat runner-up Jehangir Mehta, a New York chef flashy in his personality and inclined towards Indian food. While for millions of Americans backyard ribs may sound easy, for these perfectionist chefs, when this red meat mainstay was announced on Sunday's finale, a blast of anxiety shot through the room. Garces opted for carnitas tacos (slow cooking his meat with cloves and beer), buffalo steak tartare and buffalo rib steak cooked au poivre, all fairly safe dishes. Garces said he drew on his Chicago background for the "American melting pot" theme of the show.When all the ribs and racks of meats were prepared to perfection, Philadelphia chef Jose Garces, known for his Latin flavors, emerged victorious from Sunday's season finale of 'The Next Iron Chef.'

Garces beat runner-up Jehangir Mehta, a New York chef flashy in his personality and inclined towards Indian food. While for millions of Americans backyard ribs may sound easy, for these perfectionist chefs, when this red meat mainstay was announced on Sunday's finale, a blast of anxiety shot through the room. Garces opted for carnitas tacos (slow cooking his meat with cloves and beer), buffalo steak tartare and buffalo rib steak cooked au poivre, all fairly safe dishes. Garces said he drew on his Chicago background for the "American melting pot" theme of the show.

Chef Mehta whipped up an esoteric curry yogurt sauce for short ribs, while making ground pork patties and saffron rice. He also worked in some smothered shrimp dumplings with buffalo chicken -- but hit a bad note with undercooked burgers. In general, Mehta's approach was more adventurous, and curious, given the meat's more obvious all-American uses. In the end, Mehta's creativity was not enough to win.

Garces joins Michael Symon as the previous winner of The Food Network's 'Next Iron Chef,' which just wrapped its second season. 'The Iron Chef' masters include Mario Batali, Bobby Flay and Masaharu Morimoto.

Garces has several restaurants in Philadelphia, including Disitro, a winner of Esquire magazine's "Best New Restaurant." Garces has reportedly opened two restaurants in 2009: Chifa, a Peruvian-Cantonese fusion, and Village Whiskey, a burger and alcohol joint, and is set to open several more restaurants in 2010.