On Saturday, April 18, I was one of four judges in the Fire on the Rock Chef Challenge. This event is similar to the Sweet Sixteen in NCAA college basketball. Eight chefs were paired off in a head to head competition. Each round featured a mystery ingredient. Each chef had 50 minutes to prepare 3 dishes with the main focus being the mystery ingredient. Our main criteria was on taste, aroma, presentation and best use of the mystery ingredient.
Photo of Chef Bill Greene of Artisanal putting the final touches on one of his dishes. We tasted so many dishes it was hard to keep up with the names. All of the chefs did a fantastic job.
A photo of Chef Barbato of The Manor House Restaurant at Chetola Resort being pronounced the winner of his round by Jimmy Crippen of Crippen's Country Inn and Restaurant. Also seated at the table is John Batchelor, food critic for a North Carolina newspaper.
Here is one of the many highlights of my visit. Chef Carla Hall "who should have won Top Chef in my opinion" of Alchemy Caterers, was our famous guest judge in the Fire on the Rock Chef finale on Sunday afternoon. Check out her website @ www.alchemycaterers.com. You can see the big smile on my face. And for all of you Top Chef fans, she is the same in person as she appeared on the TV show. Carla is very knowledge about food, down to earth, plus she has an endearing, bigger than life personality. Everyone in the audience loved her, and it was an honor to be seated next to her during the final judging. And yes, she is tall so she had to bend over a little for the photo. But, to be fair, I'm very short. Come back next week for new blog entries on my Blowing Rock adventure. I 'll also let you know who won.
