Reminder: Vie's Paul Virant and sous chef Nathan Sears are the latest Chicago entrants to the Iron Chef America fray. They battle Japanese master Masaharu Morimoto on Nov. 1.

Join Virant, Sears and the rest of the Vie family to watch the episode (8 p.m., Food Network) at the Tap House Grill, 6010 S. Cass in Westmont. The chef there is Virant's friend.

And keep an eye on Sears, who we first met back in January. He's "ripe and ready" to head the kitchen at Virant's second restaurant, location t.b.d., Virant says.

Virant was thisclose to signing a lease on Vie Part Deux (our nickname, not his), just south of Grand Avenue, near May Street Market, but things just didn't work out.

"We're still looking," Virant says. "We do want to do something downtown.

"Obviously, it'll harbor the same style of food, the same philosophy of food as far as trying to support a lot of local farms, but it'll be more casual."