The Final 6

Here it is the final 6 that will compete for the honor of Bravo's Top Chef!!!

John Leonard -Virginia Beach














Leon De Leon - La Cantera - San Antonio










Jorge Martinez - Belden Village - Canton



Jordan Eback - Cranberry - Pittsburg



Mike Minch - Willowlake - Indianapolis



Maynor Hernandez - Deerfield (formerly Cincinnati)

Wish them all Luck and Proper Preperation!

Best of luck Gentlemen. We have Corporate Chefs from all around the country flying in to spend time with you, taste and Judge your dishes.

See you soon.

Matt


p.s. If you want to see the dishes up close; follow the flickr link.

PORKAPALOOZA 2008

Holy Grain Fed Heirloom Variety, Berkshire, Kurabota, Feedlot pork Batman!!!!!!!

Seriously; we all ate the following pork products............

Prosciutto
Bacon
Pork Chop (S)
Pork Shoulder
Sausage....And veal & beef and the winner was chicken but that doesn't play into the rant.


Serious eating. We had two guest judges for the event; Melissa McCrady -WTMJ-NBC Affiliate and Terry Love (Love After Dark) WLOB. Both Judges were brilliant and spot on on their observations and opinions.

There were some great great entries and in the end it was the Rookie Chip Feggert (from Evanston) almost taking the top spot!

.9 of a point separated first from third!!

John Leonard (Virgina Beach), was his regional winner and will compete for all the marbles in Columbus in the second week in May. His dish Orzotto stuffed Romano Chicken with Green Beans was a panel pleaser.

.4 of a point separated John from runner up Jason Capella (Jordan Creek). His dish Porchetta del Mio Muse - Braised Pork Shoulder was outstanding! Jason actually travelled to the corners of Iowa to find the particular breed of pork for his dish!!!!!

.5 back was Chef Fegert with his Fennel Roasted Pork Chop stuffed with prosciutto and fontina which one Judge described as "Floral and Liberated" (Gary)

Enjoy the pics and keep an eye out for updates before the finals in May.

Chef Norm setting the bar high

"Going outside the walls but staying within the boundries"

Biggie summed it up very appropriately during his presentation of his dish "Pasta" Fagioli.

We saw a lot of great dishes and presentations from Joe's crew. Lance Juhas was in town for the judging as well..

When the dust settled the top three from last year were still in the top three this year, but all in different spots! Chef Jordan Eback pulled out the top spot by just 1/2 a point!!

I would like to personally thank the three judges, John Fedko, Phil Spano and Theresa Colaizzi they were very encouraging to the chefs and were all drinking by 10:30am. I wonder if that had any affect on the scoring.....

Please join me in congratulating Jordan, our latest regional winner and our 5th finalist for the grand prize awarded on the 7th of May in Columbus, a Trip to Italy!!!

Enjoy the pictures. Tomorrow we have a final cutting for the May Bravo menu and then the book will be final, so wish us good luck and that our presentation goes well and although it's 18 items it's really going to be fairly easy.

Chef Shon Mickles entry.....

Desserts!- or the story of sugar shock

The 4th competition was held in Arlington Texas at the newly opened Bravo along highway 20.

Having talked to the chefs, they were all excited to have been given the category!!!!!! (read not so happy)

Chef Leon took the top spot and will be at the finals. Guest chefs included Chef Tony Rotello from Frontenac who was in town to open Brio Allen!

Well, again the strength and talent of our chefs was evident. I will let the pictures do the talking, See you tomorrow night after the Pittburgh Pasta Fest.

A Small Village in Tuscany ........

Just a great shot by Jason taken on the trip last year.

Next Week in Dallas and Pittsburgh

Next week brings round 4 and 5 of the Chef Competition. Laura's region has desserts and Joe has pasta. Last round in Detroit was a surprise with Chef Mike Minch's flatbread the winner. You may have looked at it and thought......peaches.....proscuitto....Wha????? Sort of like blueberry encrusted snapper with a Kiwi-Gruyere Hollandaise, but I'm telling you all it was GREAT!!! Again lot's of great Ideas and concepts that are easily transferable to OUR menu. Remember our core values. Responsibility for moving the brand foreword. There isn't a time when I talk to one of you about a menu item, possible new item or issue with and item, that doesn't make a difference. Keep the feedback coming.

Gary's contest is in Glenview (Chicago) on the 17th. and when the group is set we will send out more detailed information about the dishes and better pics.

On a side note if you would like to see anything on the blog as a topic or just any thoughts or ideas drop me an e-mail or just post back to the blog itself.

Breakfast Just Isn't For Breakfast Anymore

And then there was breakfast, Or more correctly Brunch. What a great day in Livonia; Sal's hospitality, Chef Mike Meyer's and Drummonds positive vibe. We had some very stiff competition. With ties for 3rd, 4th and 1.5 points between first and 4th. Some entries were a big suprise. Get ready, Next week, Laura and Joe's regions are coming up. Best of Luck!!!!