- The first part of the competition is over; hats up!
By
Sophie Gayot
Part one of the S.Pellegrino® Almost Famous Chef® Competition, held for the eighth time this year, is The Mystery Basket competition. The rules are very strict (there is a full page of them), but the basics are that the eleven contestants have 2 hours to create a dish with the featured ingredients and prepare 10 identical plates to be served to the judges. This year’s mystery ingredients were organic chicken, mushrooms and eggs. The contestants—all chefs in training— had a long list of other produce they were allowed to use, including flavors from the “Asian pantry,” the “Mediterranean pantry” and the “Latin pantry.”
While the kitchen of The Culinary Institute of America, Greystone, was in full swing, chef Fabio Viviani from Firenze Osteria (and who loves to be on camera) interviewed the contestants and the judges. The coverage was streamed live for the first time in the event’s history.
Then came my part: the judging. Over the course of four hours, chef Michel Richard of Citronelle (one of GAYOT’s Top 40 U.S. Restaurants), chef Rick Moonen of rm Seafood (Las Vegas), chef Wade Wiestling of The Oceanaire Seafood Room (12 locations in the US), chef Ralph Pagano of Kitchensynx.com, chef Andrew Ellerby of ONE Restaurant (Toronto, Canada), chef Massimo Bottura of Osteria Francescana (Modena, Italy), Food & Wine magazine’s editor in chief Dana Cowin, Bon Appétit Magazine’s restaurant editor Andrew Knowlton, Toronton National Post’s columnist Bonnie Stern, last’s year winner David Awad and I discovered the plates one by one, as they were presented and explained by the students. The good thing: though the dishes were based on similar ingredients, each of them was very different in creativity, execution, presentation and taste.
See the pictures below for all the details.
You can click on each photo to enlarge.
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Dan Luckey presenting his dish to the judges
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Laura Torresin presenting her dish to the judges
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Justine de Valicourt presenting her dish to the judges
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Amanda Digges presenting her dish to the judges
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Peter Clark presenting his dish to the judges
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Johnathan Lynch presenting his dish to the judges
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Apilada Sani presenting her dish to the judges
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Timothy DeVore presenting his dish to the judges
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Luis Young presenting his dish to the judges
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Robert Crawford presenting his dish to the judges
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Brian Schreiber presenting his dish to the judges
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Justine de Valicourt’s dish: my rating 6/10. Chicken breast stuffed with mushrooms
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Amanda Digges’ dish: my rating 6/10. Chicken française with mushroom ragu
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Peter Clark’s dish: my rating 6/10. Seared chicken “scallops”: Seared chicken breast
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Dan Luckey’s dish: my rating 5/10. Pan seared organic chicken breast with chicken mousse
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Laura Torresin’s dish: my rating 3/10. Italian risotto made with chicken stock
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Johnathan Lynch’s dish: my rating 5/10. Poached chicken with creole sauce
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Apilada Sani’s dish: my rating 6/10. Chicken roulade served with mixed mushrooms
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Timothy DeVore’s dish: my rating 6/10. Sage seared chicken with creamed leek and mushroom parsley financier
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Luis Young’s dish: my rating 7/10. Chicken breast roulade
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Robert Crawford’s dish: my rating 9/10. Pan roasted chicken breast stuffed with wild mushrooms and tomatoes
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Brian Schreiber’s dish: my rating 8/10. Red wine chicken under a brick with parsnip polenta
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Dan Luckey in the kitchen
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Laura Torresin in the kitchen
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Justine de Valicourt in the kitchen
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Amanda Digges in the kitchen
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Peter Clark in the kitchen
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Johnathan Lynch creating his dish
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Apilada Sani in the kitchen
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Timothy DeVore in the kitchen
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Luis Young in the kitchen
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Brian Schreiber in the kitchen
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All the plates
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The Asian Pantry
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Chicken in the making
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CIA Greystone entrance
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The kitchen at CIA Greystone
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The first part of the competition is over; hats up!
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Contestant #2
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An overview of the available ingredients
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The Latin Pantry
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The Mediterranean Pantry
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Chefs Michel Richard & Fabio Viviani
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More ingredients
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An impressive fridge
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The Mystery Basket: eggs
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The contestants with Sophie Gayot
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Chef Fabio Viviani
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The judges (missing Michel Richard)
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CIA Greystone
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Dan Luckey
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Laura Torresin
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Justine de Valicourt
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Amanda Digges
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Peter Clark
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Johnathan Lynch
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Apilada Sani
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Timothy DeVore
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Luis Young
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Robert Crawford
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Brian Schreiber
You can click on each photo to enlarge.