As you saw last week, I posted about the Chef Challenge event to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Capital Region. It was held at the Hampton Inn and Suites, across the street from the Parting Glass this past Thursday evening. Well now that the event is over, I wanted to write a follow up and discuss the challenge. There’s SO much I want to mention, so bare with me if this entry is a little longer than you’re used to!
Walking into the event, I was unsure how it would be set up, what the competition would be like, how close we’d be to the action, etc. I’ve been to events in the past where you watch a competition from afar and can’t really see what’s going on in the actual kitchen. To my surprise, this was much different. The kitchen was centrally located, right in the middle of the room so attendees could stand around and watch, literally on the other side of the hot plate and grill pans.
Before I get into the big competition, let’s talk about the food tastings that were offered that night. The event included samplings of food from four different local
restaurants, including Augie’s (Ballston Spa), Cardona’s Market (Albany), The Illium
Cafe (Troy) and 2Shea Catering at Shaker Ridge Country Club (Loudonville). The attendees of
the event were asked to sample and vote for their favorite dishes and whoever won over the crowds palate would be crowned next years competitor against this years winner. Pretty cool idea, right?
Anyway, here are some of the shots from the visiting restaurants.
Illium Cafe served mini nachos
Cardona’s Market served this traditional Italian dish, pork osso bucco which literally fell off the bone
Augie’s dishing out some of their famous cheese tortellini in vodka sauce
2Shea Catering offered three samples: Pan-Asian Chicken, mini fillets and coconut fried lobster
My favorite taste? Well that was found at 2Shea’s station, with their coconut lobster. It was succulent and absolutely delicious. I’m not gonna lie though, all of these restaurants were rocking that night, with very different tastes at each station but all extremely good. The crowd seemed to agree with me however, and 2Shea Catering won the people’s choice award and will be attending as a competing chef next year.
Onto the big event, the duel between Albany Chef A.J. Jayapal from The Brown Derby Restaurant and Saratoga Chef John Ireland, previous executive chef at The Wine Bar and current head chef at Panza’s.
I snagged this shot before the competition began of the two chefs chatting
The secret ingredient was lemon, although I thought it was a pretty easy secret ingredient to tackle. Anyway, here are the images from Chef Jayapar’s dishes.
Halved tomatoes marinated in a simmered blueberry sauce, topped with greens
Beet juice couscous with marinated lamb
Chocolate cake and white chocolate ice cream with a shot of baileys on the side
Now onto Chef Ireland’s three courses.
Chef Ireland is preparing his appetizer here, steamed asparagus and bacon in a lemon fish sauce
Marinated lamb with ribbon zucchini
A light and fresh citrus cheesecake crumble
Finally, the decision was made, and Chef Ireland from Panza’s in Saratoga took home the giant spatula and the win. And no, the spatula part is not a joke (look below on the right side).
it so exciting for the people who attended. I will finish this entry by
saying that I hope this is an event I can attend for many years to come,
and I truly hope next year I will see more of you there!
