First Place Food

The weekend of November 7th and 8th was the 3rd Annual Wine and Food Classic in Ashland, Oregon. Having been the 2 time winner of this event, I chose not to compete this year and was invited back as head judge. Something I concerned to be just a big of an honor as winning the competition. The event is styled on the Iron Chef format and included 8 local chefs who compete in rounds over the weekend with mystery ingredients and local produce and goods. The chefs have to produce dishes to the criteria set out by the judges. My role was to host and MC the event and convey to the audience what the cooks were doing and the thought process that they go through to excel in this stressful environment. After each round of cooking I got to taste, critique, award points, explain the dishes to the audience, and then announce which chefs would make it to the next round. The final was between Miles McCollum from Tease Restaurant and Franco Console from Omar’s Restaurant. Franco took down a much deserved win. It was a good change being on the judging side of the table this time around.