Taste Buds a Rockin’ at the Almost Famous Chef Competition
By April on Feb 5 Filed In Austin, Texas, Events, Food & Beverage, Nestle Waters, Social Media Add a Comment
A few weeks ago I received an email from our Director of Food Service, Scott Witucki inviting folks in our office to the Almost Famous Chef Competition hosted by the International Culinary School at The Art Institute of Austin and sponsored by the refreshing beverage, San Pellegrino. Now, if you’ve been reading our blog long or follow my Twitter feed, then you KNOW how much I love food, especially good, quality, fru-fru food. This means I RSVP’d immediately!
Dylan and I were expecting a formal sit-down dinner wrapped around the competition. This was not the case at all, which was a good thing. When we walked in, we were greeted by Barbara Brown from Nestle Waters who was ecstatic to have Sweet Leaf Tea represented. We exchanged introductions and then turned around to see 2 screens on one side and a panel of esteemed judges on the other. Once I looked at the screens I noticed chefs scrambling to plate their dishes for the judges and a live Twitter feed of the competition. Jennifer LaVigne was standing in front of the panel of judges answering questions about her dish, the Lamb and Wild Mushroom Wellington. (Tasty!) We were invited to grab some hors d’oeuvres and some beverages, and then go through the (EXCITING & DELICIOUS) buffet line. Oh yea, my reason for BEING!!
Chef-in-training, Austin Anzak serving up the Wellington.
What was in the buffet line you ask? Each of the 7 aspiring chefs made something tasty and different from the last person. Were there a couple of what I’d call “safe dishes”? Sure, and they were still amazing, and one of those won the competition. The winner, Johnathan Lynch created a Pan Bronzed Supreme of Chicken. It was comprised of a chicken quarter served with a risotto cake with wilted spinach stacked between two slices of tomatoes, all sitting in a sexy butter sauce of some kind.
Winning entree by Jonathan Lynch
My absolute fave? The Seared Diver Scallops, plated with German-style fingerling potatoes (vinegar and bacon baby!), sea beans and chanterelle mushrooms. The vinegar flavor and the flavored honey drizzled lightly all over it, shoved this tasty dish completely over the edge. A friend of the winner came over to comment about the happy dance I was doing over the distinct flavors that were hitting my palate. High five to Shay Prigmore for rocking my world!!
Shay Prigmore's Seared Diver Scallops
Dylan voted for the extremely tasty (but too sweet) meat loaf. I apologize now for losing the picture I took of it plated, along with the Austin-locals name on it. He served his meat loaf (dedicated to his grandma, the soul-food chef of their family) with a side of macaroni and cheese, glazed carrots and my favorite kind of green bean (before I discovered sea beans!) haricot vert. I loved listening to the chef answer the questions about the dish. The one thing he’d have changed? He would have added some sugar to the carrots for that extra punch. I’m glad he didn’t as the sauce on the ML and the natural sweetness of the carrots were already almost too much. If he added some heat to it (as the KEYE news anchor, Jason Wheeler suggested) like Tabasco sauce and/or chili powder (my 2 secret ingredients in my ML) it would have been my favorite dish. I love that he called his dish, “Blue Plate Special”. It was indeed!
All of the chefs and judges together
Honorable mention goes to Jason Flato (a huge SLT fan!) and his Louisiana Barbecue Shrimp. The shrimp was served upon a slice of baguette that had been rubbed with roasted garlic and then had a SUPER SEXY sauce made of butter, thyme, and more garlic drizzled upon it. The shrimp were good, but the slice of bread with all of the flavors sopped up on it was a party for our taste buds.
Jason Flato and his amazing Louisiana BBQ Shrimp
Interested in watching the chefs move forward? Follow the AI Chef Comp on Twitter. Bon appetite!
