The task at hand is no small feat. A team of meeting professionals will miraculously fashion a gourmet meal out of a hodgepodge of ingredients in just one hour. Though the team benefits from the tutelage of a master chef, the catch is that there are actually five teams with chefs, and this is a corporate cook-off competition replete with top culinary judges.
“This is an Iron Chef-style competition,” Tony Santos, vice president of sales for event organizers Executive Chef, explains before the first grill is fired up. “Teams get down and dirty and go head to head.”
Though Executive Chef is based in San Francisco, groups can choose Bay Area venues from San Jose to Sonoma, and from wineries to museums, to host a competition. Tonight’s cook-off begins at dusk in an outdoor alcove at San Francisco’s Ferry Building.
The first order of business has nothing to do with cooking. Wine and hors ’douvres are served as a pre-competition social mixer before the battle lines are drawn. Guests don chef hats and aprons and are then divided into their teams, each headed by a chef who has already chosen a full menu.
Jesse Brandstetter from Team 5 details his dinner choice: chicken with chopped garlic, shallots and lemon garnished with arancini balls—risotto mixed with mozzarella.
“This is competitive, but we’re going to win,” Brandstetter asserts. “It’s all about finesse.”
Wine continues to flow as the participants get busy dicing, chopping, sauteing, blanching, boiling, roasting—and inevitably bonding—in a team effort to snag top honors. The judges make the rounds, probing about the recipes and cooking tactics.
“Sounds great. The only problem, three doors down, they are doing the same thing,” one judge, GraceAnn Walden, scolds Team 5, goading the participants before revealing she is only kidding.
With just a few quick-ticking minutes to go, teams create sample plates for the judges, who will vote based on taste, as well as visual and oral presentations. While the judges mull over the entrees, participants eat what they have prepared, with many surprised at their success.
The verdict is in. Team 5 came within a hair of first, an honor bestowed on Team 2, which turned out a panko-encrusted ahi entree.
But by then the teams are intermingling, tasting each other’s creations as the competitive edge softens with each bite.
For More Info
Executive Chef 800.975.6844
www.executivechefevents.com
