Celebrity Chef Challenge 2010: a Judge's Point of View

Just recently I was asked to hold court as a culinary judge in the Celebrity Chef Challenge 2010, and let me tell you now: the judges seat is the best seat in the house! In the last couple of years Celebrity Chef Challenge has changed quite a bit, in it's previous years it was held at the Sugarmill in Clarksburg - this was my first year of going to the Celebrity Chef Challenge and it was a great affair, held outside with a 4 person competition it showcased the most sought after chefs in our fair town, but with it's growth in attendance they needed a larger venue, and they moved on to the Towe Auto Museum. Now if you never been to this venue it has it's highs and lows, on one hand it's full of awesome old school classics, and small story exhibits that encompass the entire warehouse, the down is the lighting. Now for people who don't plan or attend a lot of events this is an insignificant detail, but for myself and others who noticed it's a HUGE deal: Towe Auto Museum is the worst lit venue I've ever been to! But outside of a overall depressing feel because of the lighting, this year saw the effects of the recession in other ways - the significant decrease in vendors was one of them.

New faces appeared, Markstein represented with Stella, Hoppy Brewing, and Sierra Nevada. I was sad to see many local area restaurants not in attendance, and smaller wineries such as Berryessa Gap were no to be seen as well. On a high note Michael David was serving their Sin Line of Zinfandel's, including: Gluttony, Sloth, Rapture, and Lust - as these are the highest priced wine of their selection this was a treat (they normally do not pour these out to large events)! and as the person pouring was the Director of Sales for Michael David, when I spoke to him he told me about the Rhone Varietal line 'Ink Blot' that will be showcased soon!

After taking a quick lap of the event (always a smart way to see who's there, and what you want to go back to, otherwise you get caught at the first vendors and miss out on the treasures toward the end), I jetted over to the judges table for my working part of the evening. Fellow judges included: 2009 challenge winner, Adam Pehal; Regional Vice President Wells Fargo Foundation, Chevo Ramierez; and News 10’s Bryan May; and one of the contestants from Food Network's The Next Iron Chef (didn't catch his name- Sorry). Emmce's for the evening included the hilarious and adorable Guy Farris and Melissa Crowley of Sacramento & Co.

From the dramatic entrances of the chefs, which were outstanding and included a rapper with his entourage of girls, a boxer with his security, to the lunch ladies that floated in with their ladles and then stripped to Def Leopards "Pour some sugar on me." This was no boring event. The special ingredients included leg of goat, Petite Basque cheese, papaya, Steelhead Salmon, and wild mushrooms. All ingredients were used by the chefs in different degrees of ability, but all with great creativity.

Benefits of being a judge, if you can get it:

1. 3 courses from 6 chefs, all hoping that you will enjoy their food the most
2. Hilarious judging panel that kept me laughing, and thinking about the food all evening
   
3. Wine as far as the eye can see, and if they don't have it the attendants will find what your looking for - now that's great service
4. Every attendant taking plates away immediately after they were set aside - I swear I felt like Henry the VIIIth!

This is my Henry the VIIIth picture!

Drawbacks from being a judge:

1. Everyone is taking pictures of your every bite, as you eat (not flattering angles people)
2. The chef's look at you all excited and hopeful making every criticism harder as there directly in front of you judging your expressions
3. You drink A LOT, as every plate (18 total), I believe, deserves a bite as prepared, and a bite with the wine best suited to it's preparation. To give the best score applicable for that plate includes at least 2 bites, and one drink. That's a lot of drinks.
   
4. It's an endurance sport, not a race. It's all about pacing yourself people. Some dishes were significantly better than others, but it's very noticeable when you favor more bites of one dish over others, so all bites (2 per plate) should be the same. That's a lot of food.

One of my fellow judges Adam Pehal was almost finishing every plate! where was he putting it all? When I asked him about his take on the judging he claimed that after being up there, and knowing the pressure, he gave more credit to each dish's execution, and I guess he showed his appreciation by cleaning his plate!



The food was exceptional for some plates and disappointing for others, but considering the degree of difficultly for the ingredients and the 45 mins of time, it was a feat by any standards.

High point dishes:

Russell Michel, Morgan's Central Valley Bistro at the Sheraton Grand Sacramento

• Trio of cheese crostini with secret ingredients creatively crafted, and a crowd pleasing strawberry puree sake bomb with a strawberry crumble as a dessert!
  

Anthony Dimusuay, 3 Fires Lounge in Residence Inn by Marriott

• Beautifully compiled dishes including a jicama salad, lavender salmon, and goat paired with creamy polenta and a dash of mole
  

Chef Q, Owner of Chef Q for Hire

• Nice salmon pot pie, and perfectly cooked goat stew (this was the best execution of the goat for the entire competition, not only was it perfectly cooked, but a smart way of utilizing the time available)
  

Teresa Urkofsky, American River College Culinary Arts

• Really yummy butter flaked biscuit with a take on sloppy Joe's, grinding up the goat making a wonderful (if slightly over sweetened) mini sandwich
  

Low-point dishes:

Ryan O'Malley, Piatti Ristorante & Bar

• Lack luster raw salmon salad to start, and barley side dish to tough goat meat cuts
  

Kristy DeVaney of Cakegrrl.com

• Tasty salmon ravioli that ended up having a crunch that couldn't be accounted for (scary), and a curry flavored goat, tomato, and mushroom kabob on a rosemary sprig that was only OK compared to her competitors. Followed by a papaya shot that had a very bad flavor profile following a curry dish.
  

I know that all the chefs worked very hard so this is just a personal opinion.

Winners

1. Russel Michel, Central Valley Bistro at the Sheraton Grand Sacramento
2. Teresa Urkofsky, Chef instructor for American River College’s culinary arts program
3. Chef Q, of Chef Q for hire

All in all it was a great night, full of great food and awesome people, if they call again looking for my humble expertise I will heartily accept!