Fancy Pants Foodie

Capital Hotel’s Guizol wins Diamond Chef 2014 (Updated)

June 3, 2014 by arfoodie

Diamond Chef 2014 winner Marc Guizol (center) with sous Patrick Kelly and Adrienne Rogers.

Diamond Chef 2014 winner Marc Guizol (center) with sous Zachary Pullam and Adrienne Rogers.

Chef Marc Guizol, sous chef at the Capital Hotel, has won the 2014 Diamond Chef final competition. His competitor was Chef Dan Capello of the Chenal Country Club.

This year’s secret ingredient was lobster, and Guizol and Capello did not disappoint with their variations on the theme. However, before the ingredient was revealed, an even bigger twist: Each chef had to trade one sous chef to the opposing team. Chenal’s Patrick Kelly ended up working with Guizol, and Capital Hotel’s Zachary Pullam switched over to Capello.

Each team was given 20 minutes to prepare each course, which was then presented to the team of judges.

First Course

Chef Capello’s team presented a lobster spring roll with a lemon sour cream sauce. Guizol’s team presented lobster tartare with a peanut butter sauce.

Second Course

Capello presented an in-shell lobster tail with a slaw of microgreens and guacamole, and a fried zucchini flower stuffed with goat cheese. Guizol offered a coconut-milk based soup with a lobster tail and lobster mousseline, garnished with lobster roe, and a roe-garnished crisp. (Many thanks to Lennon Parker of Pulaski Tech for sharing his photos of this course.)

Third Course

Capello presented a crab claw and knuckle ragu with mushroom, tomato and bacon; a corn and lobster flan; and a celeriac, French truffle and quail egg yolk ravioli with a celeriac truffle crumble, garnished with thyme, celery and borage flowers.

Guizol presented a smoked lobster claw with roe presented caviar style, a fresh winter Australian truffle ravioli with foie gras, and porcini mushroom garnish.

Scoring

Guizol won with a final total score of 83.8 out of a possible 100 points, compared to Capello’s 78.67 points.

I got to overhear some of the judges’ conversations while taking photos and getting plate descriptions, and the competition was tight. It seemed to come down to a few minor technical errors on Capello’s part and more well-executed dishes on Guizol’s side.

I don’t envy the chefs or their sous at all. This is an extremely high-pressure event, and I certainly would not want to pick apart each dish like the judges must. They are presented with near-perfect dishes from Arkansas’ best chefs, and they are forced to find what little things may have been wrong.

Once again, Diamond Chef has shown us just what amazing culinary talent we have right here in Arkansas, all benefiting Pulaski Technical College’s Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management Institute so they can keep adding more talent to our market.

PHOTOS: See below for candid shots and more from the event. Please do not republish without permission.

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Diamond Chef 2014 Pits Capello, Guizol this Tuesday

June 1, 2014 by arfoodie

Disclaimer: Although I’ve attended for free for years as a student or volunteer, this year marks the first time I’ll be sitting at a “big kid” table at Diamond Chef. Organizers offered me a ticket in exchange for my normal coverage, so I’m telling you and the FTC powers that be. Sorry for two “sponsored” things in a row, technically.

It’s time once again for that iconic culinary throwdown, the Diamond Chef competition final, this year pitting Executive Chef Daniel Capello of Chenal Country Club against Executive Sous Chef Marc Guizol of the Capital Hotel. The ticketed event will be held this Tuesday, June 3, 6 p.m. at the Statehouse Convention Center. Tickets are still available, $200 each or $2,000 for a table of 10.

Diamond Chef is a fundraising event for the Pulaski Technical College Foundation, specifically for the Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management Institute, or CAHMI (Read: “Cammie”) for short. If you know me at all, you know I’ve got quite the soft spot for CAHMI, being a graduate and now sitting on the advisory board. Every dollar raised at Diamond Chef helps students have the equipment and opportunities they need to be the well-trained workforce that Arkansas deserves.

I’ve had the privilege of covering the Diamond Chef event for several years now (excepting last year, when I was at Disney World — my bad), since my days as a culinary arts student at Pulaski Tech. Since then, the event has become even bigger, better and more fun!

Students and faculty line both sides of the doors while welcoming Diamond Chef guests.

The event starts with a cocktail hour in the lobby, giving attendees a chance to mingle and start bidding on the well-stocked silent auction. Later, attendees are ushered into the ballroom, flanked on both sides by CAHMI students and faculty in their white chef coats. The guests are then seated at round tables for 10 while dining on a multi-course meal. (And because I know you’re wondering, none of these meals are made by the frantically-competing chefs, just by the amazingly talented culinary staff at Statehouse.)

While you watch, the two finalists, each with two sous chefs, are presented with the one secret ingredient that must be used in every dish presented that night, and they have but 60 minutes in which to do it. At least three courses are required, but being the overachievers that they are, we often see more. A panel of expert judges will score the chefs on creativity, taste and presentation, while Chef Andre Poirot of Crowne Plaza Little Rock will serve as a technical judge, scoring the chefs on sanitation and organization. Note: I’ve seen chefs lose by a fraction of a point for sanitation. It matters!

The seated part of the event also includes a live auction, filled with fantasy prizes and trips for foodies. (I swear, one day I’ll bid on a trip to eat at the renowned French Laundry, if that auction item appears again.)

I hear you…”Wasn’t there a Diamond Chef just a few weeks ago?” Well, yes, gentle reader; I’m glad you remember. That was the preliminaries, an exciting, multi-round free event that chooses this year’s challenger to the previous year’s Diamond Chef champion. See, here’s a selfie I took with Chef Guizol just after his big win!

We were having a silly moment. He was pretty happy. He also said his out-of-town friends saw everything on Fancy Pants Foodie!

At this preliminary event and at other food events around town, I’ve been amazed at Chef Guizol’s skill. It’s a testament to the stacked deck of awesome over at the Capital Hotel that someone of his stature is second in command (to Executive Chef Joel Antunes) and is flanked by tournant (or roundsman, basically a chef who can do anything at any station) Arturo Solis, whose performance at last year’s AHA Culinary Classic was as astounding as any head chef in town.

Guizol came away as the winner of last year’s Arkansas Hospitality Association Iron Chef competition, so he’ll be a formidable competitor at this year’s Diamond Chef.

Meanwhile, Chef Daniel Capello is a Diamond Chef legend. He won the title last year as well as in 2010, and has long been active in culinary competitions and other events such as Wildwood’s Wine and Food Festival, CAHMI’s Chef Ball, and the March of Dimes Signature Chef event.

The main thing that stands out to me about Capello is his generosity to the local food community. If you are a culinary student or up-and-coming chef in Arkansas, chances are you’ve had the chance to visit with him and glean from his experience. His attendance at all the aforementioned events show that he’s not too busy or too good to share the culinary wealth.

I hope you’l join me this Tuesday at the Diamond Chef final event. It’s a great event for a great cause. Our students at CAHMI very much appreciate your support of their education!

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Diamond Chef Final
benefiting Pulaski Technical College
Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management Institute
Statehouse Convention Center
6-10 p.m. (Cocktails from 6-7)
$200 each / $2000 for a table of 10

Good Morning Arkansas: Citrus Glazed Salmon and Quick Portable Snacks

May 29, 2014 by arfoodie

DISCLAIMER: I received payment for today’s television appearance to share about bistroMD meal delivery service and some other products, listed below. As usual, I would not promote anything that I didn’t think was awesome. Also, in the spirit of full disclosure, I’m currently eating frosting out of a piping bag while writing about healthy foods. Carry on.

So, I’m guessing you saw me today on Good Morning Arkansas! Maybe I’m still on right now, and you’re laughing at the fact that I dropped the salmon, or I over-sauced the carrots. (Not really, I hope…I’m writing this the night before.) I do want to tell you a bit more about the dish I made and share the recipe with you.

The Citrus Glazed Salmon recipe is from bistroMD, a healthy alternative to take-out and frozen meals that comes right to your door. They can customize your menu based on your particular health needs, from diabetes to gluten-free, that also help with sugar blood, although there are also supplements as blood sugar premier by zenith labs that also help with this. You can choose from tons of breakfast, lunch and dinner options, and you can do just about any combination of those you want for your weekly program. A full week program, including 7 breakfasts, 7 lunches and 6 dinners (they figure you’ll want to go out once) is $159.95, delivered frozen to your door each week. Not too bad!

I will say this: The recipe I presented was a little tricky. Salmon can be hard for beginners to get just right without overcooking (luckily, mine turned out mostly fine). But the real stinker was those carrots! I love, love, LOVE miso paste, but it contains a lot of sugar and protein that likes to BURN in the oven, the method used in the original recipe. I finally tweaked the recipe to make them a little less, um, smoky. I see from bistroMD’s photos that the carrots are really (properly) caramelized when they do them, but it’s hard to do that at home just right without summoning cute firefighters, so I’ll give you some options. See the recipe below.

Or, hey, just hire bistroMD to do it for you! Win.

*****

The snacks! I hope you were able to hear about all the snacks. (If I ran out of time, just keep reading and you’ll hear all about it!) There are some really cool things available now that you can easily carry in your purse or stick in your desk drawer. Here’s what I (hopefully) talked about today:

Carrington Farms Flax Packs: Flax seeds are extremely good for you, with Omega 3s and fiber and all kinds of good stuff. But they usually have to be refrigerated, and they have to be cut for you to absorb the nutrients. These packs are organic, portion sized and don’t need a fridge. Just put it right on your salad, yogurt or whatever. They’re available locally at Whole Foods.

I loves me some little glass iced coffees that you might see at the grocery store, but they don’t love me back…full of sugar and unnatural nasties. The new RealBeanz iced coffee is a healthy spin on these popular “ccino” drinks. There are several varieties, and they’re all 100% natural. I personally love that the “diet” one uses stevia rather than fake sweeteners! You’ll have to order this one online, either from the RealBeanz site or on Amazon.

Finally, my favorite…Perky Jerky. It’s not just a funny name, it’s actually really delicious. The “perky” part comes from the use of guarana, a plant that is energizing much like a coffee bean, in the jerky marinade. The marinade also includes pineapple juice, which tenderizes and sweetens through its natural enzymes and God-given yumminess. A jerky that isn’t tough and gross, and can actually pick me up on a long work day? Sign me up. I saw these tonight at Kroger (yay), and I hear they’re also at Target and Home Depot.

I hope you enjoyed my visit on the teevee today! Hopefully it was more educational and less laugh-at-me inducing. Either way, click the links here (I don’t benefit if you do, it’s just cool stuff) and read more about it!

*****

Citrus Glazed Salmon (serves 4)
Courtesy of bistroMD (slightly modified in places!)

Salmon:

1 pound of center-cut salmon fillet, skinned and cut into 4 portions
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Mmmmmm…salmon.

Preheat oven to 450F.

Season the salmon fillets lightly with salt and pepper and place on a non-stick baking sheet.

Bake for 12-15 minutes until salmon is cooked through and flakes easily with a fork.

Citrus Glaze:

1/2 cup Mandarin Oranges, drained
1 ½ tablespoons Lime Juice
1 ½ tablespoons Lemon Juice
2 tablespoons Orange Juice
1 tablespoon Rice Wine Vinegar
2 Scallions, chopped
Corn Starch, as needed

In a sauté pan over medium heat, add the lime juice, lemon juice, orange juice and rice wine vinegar. Heat until it begins to boil then turn down the heat to a low simmer and allow to slightly reduce. If a thicker sauce is preferred, add corn starch to thicken to desired consistency. Just before serving, add the oranges and toss to warm through. Spoon over salmon and garnish with scallions. (Note: Original recipe cooks the oranges and scallions in the sauce the whole time, which makes more of a chunky sauce. I wanted a glaze and separate oranges, and I like the scallions to be fresh and green, hence my changes. Make it how you want!)

Miso Carrots:

16oz bag, Petite-Cut Carrots
4 tablespoons Miso Paste
2 teaspoons Sesame Oil

Oven method:

Preheat oven to 450F.

Toss carrots, miso paste and sesame oil together in a bowl. Spread onto a baking sheet. Roast in the oven for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. (Blogger’s note: I wasn’t as happy with this method, although it looks fine. See options below.)

Stovetop method:

Steam carrots by microwaving in a covered bowl with a tablespoon of water for 3-4 minutes, or in a steamer basket over boiling water on the stovetop. Alternately, you can roast the carrots, tossed in a tablespoon of olive or vegetable oil (less likely to burn than the sesame oil) in the 450 degree oven for 10-15 minutes, turning frequently.

Place miso paste, sesame oil and a tablespoon of water in a nonstick sauté pan over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring and scraping the bottom constantly, until the mixture becomes a thickened sauce. (This may not take much time with traditional miso paste; Kroger only has a very liquidy version that took longer to cook down.) When thickened, add your steamed or roasted carrots and toss to coat.

Ginger Snow Peas:

12oz Snow Peas, fresh or frozen
½ teaspoon Ginger, fresh, grated
¼ teaspoon Sesame Oil

Heat a sauté pan over medium heat with the sesame oil. When oil is heated, add the ginger and sauce for 1 minute. Add the snow peas and toss to coat with the oil and ginger. Saute 2-3 minutes if using fresh. Saute 7-8 minutes if using frozen.

Bake Sale Results, Cheese-Off, and a Helena Pop-Up

May 9, 2014 by arfoodie

Arkansas Blogger Bake Sale Results

I am happy to report that, as of this writing, we are hovering around the $2,600 mark for this year’s Arkansas Blogger Bake Sale for No Kid Hungry!

While we’re a little shy of our $3,000 goal, it’s still a great haul, and it’s more than we raised last year. Many, many thanks to our committee members, volunteers, bakers, donors and everyone involved!

If you’d still like to help, I’m not closing our sale until next Friday, May 16. You can donate cash directly to No Kid Hungry at this link, and it will credit to our fundraiser. Share with your friends and co-workers!

(One day soon I’ll tell the side-story for that day…short version: I stepped out for a couple hours to hang out with MC Hammer, for business reasons.)

Get Cheesed Off: Pimento Cheese Competition and Tasting

While at the sale, the PR Maven at Historic Arkansas Museum dropped by to pick up some goodies and tell us about some goings on this weekend. Every year, the day before Mother’s Day, the museum holds an awesome event, the Territorial Fair. (Seriously, if you have kids — or even if you don’t — you have to go!)

This year, they are adding an even more savory element: A pimento cheese competition. Oh my word.

Competitors include Dizzy’s Gypsy Bistro, Hillcrest Artisan Meats and Capital Hotel Bar and Grill. Visitors to the Territorial Fair can sample all the pimento cheese entries from 1 to 4 p.m., voting for a People’s Choice award to be given at the end of the day.

The Territorial Fair and the Pimento Cheese-Off are free. Historic Arkansas Museum is located at 200 E. Third Street in Little Rock.

The original Interstate Grocery, which was the first sponsor of the King Biscuit Time radio show. This storefront will be the location of tomorrow night’s pop-up.

It’s Sold Out, And It’s So Cool: “Interstate Grocery” Pop-Up in Helena

Saturday night, Helena will host what’s likely one of the hottest culinary tickets in the state, a night with Chefs Shane Henderson and Jason Godwin. Henderson is currently a chef with food wholesaler Ben E. Keith (but you probably remember him as the opening chef for Argenta Market), and Godwin has experience in catering and restaurants, best known as the chef proprietor of Dogtown Coffee and Cookery.

They’ll serve four courses of Delta-centric delights at this sold-out event, meant to highlight not only the foods of the region, but also the success a similar permanent restaurant might enjoy in the area. Tickets were $30.

Julia Malinowski, director of the Helena Advertising and Promotion Commission, hopes the event will bring attention to the city’s potential for a “date night” type restaurant.

“Many of our residents are traveling 45 minutes to Greenville (Miss.), where investors have opened up opportunities for several restaurants to open,” she said. “We have some people willing to invest right here in Helena in a great restaurant if just the right person comes along.”

While it’s too late to join the party this Saturday, it’s pretty much a done deal that there will be more. Watch this space for details (with more notice next time, my bad) on future events.

It’s Time, Y’all! Arkansas Blogger Bake Sale this Saturday!

April 29, 2014 by arfoodie

I’m bringing these gluten-free s’mores cookies to the sale, as seen on Good Morning Arkansas!

Note: If you caught me on Good Morning Arkansas today, find more info about the recipe I made here.

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You’ve seen features of the participating bloggers. You’ve heard our pleas for baked goods. You’ve salivated at the photos posted by bloggers getting ready.

It’s time.

This Saturday, May 3 is the Arkansas Blogger Bake Sale for No Kid Hungry, at the Argenta Farmers’ Market, 6th and Main in North Little Rock, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

If you’ve been under a rock or something, here’s the scoop. No Kid Hungry is a national nonprofit that fights childhood hunger in a number of ways, from summer feeding programs to cooking and nutrition education. (The Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance administers all the NKH programs in Arkansas, in case you want to get involved or need services.) Five years ago, bloggers across the country started holding bake sales to raise funds for NKH, all on the same day. The past four years, Arkansas has participated and raised a ton of cash, holding our own against bigger cities’ sales. (Not that we’re competitive. Much.)

This year, we aim to raise $3,000 for No Kid Hungry at our Arkansas sale. That means we need you to come out and buy stuff! We’ll have cookies, cakes, brownies and breads from home cooks and bloggers, as well as items from professional bakers like Dempsey Bakery, Solfood Catering, Sweet Love and kBird.

Can’t make it, or don’t eat delicious baked goods? No problem. Click here to securely donate cash, which will be credited to our Arkansas group’s fundraiser. You can also check out the online auction we have going on, ending Friday at 5 p.m., for larger baked goods, as well as many goods and services.

This is a big deal, y’all! I hope you’ll join me this Saturday to fight childhood hunger in Arkansas and beyond.

Craft party for the Arkansas Blogger Bake Sale this Saturday!

April 7, 2014 by arfoodie

Feeling crafty? Join us this Saturday!

Tag-making and craft party for Arkansas Blogger Bake Sale

Saturday, April 12, 3-6 p.m.

Home of Joel and Amanda DiPippa (Please RSVP for address – note “craft party”)

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The fine folks over at No Kid Hungry want more than just food bloggers to participate in their big bake sale this year, which we’re participating in on May 3. With that in mind, we’re holding a special event this Saturday for those who like to craft!

We’ll make tags for our own baked goods, or for someone else if you aren’t baking. Or, you could make thank you cards (see awesome example by Cassi Wortham), decorations for the sale itself, signage, anything that will make our sale more awesome!

If you want, you could even make something to sell in our online auction, starting next week. Packs of greeting cards, gift tags, etc. would work here, too.

Just show up with your own cardmaking/scrapbooking/papercraft supplies and be ready to share!

If you haven’t already, RSVP by filling out your interest in the craft party on our Google doc.

See you there!

Announcing ARFoodJobs.com!

April 1, 2014 by arfoodie

Free job listings for employers throughout April with code APRILFOOLFREE. No joke!

It’s not a joke…I finally did it. Today marks the official launch of my new food job site, ARFoodJobs.com. And this month, employers can use it for free.

Since entering the culinary world as a student in 2009, I noticed there was no reliable system for filling our state’s food-related positions. Job openings were filled by word of mouth (which isn’t always a bad thing, but with limited reach), newspaper listings, Craigslist (gah) and a flurry of emails between those in the industry. Then, some jobs out there required vetting and/or health checks, similar to those given by Health Street, so the chances of getting a job were even slimmer if you weren’t competent. And being accepted for a culinary job or career especially could be so difficult.

And then, around 2012 or so, our food world smooth blew up, especially in Little Rock. New restaurants, improved concepts and inspired chefs popped up everywhere. (A recent visitor who works in the industry marveled to me at our density and variety of dining.) By 2014, Little Rock was named one of five “Secret Foodie Cities” by Forbes Travel Guide.

So, who’s gonna work at all these places? And how will the busy owners, managers and chefs make connections to the best workers?

Today I offer a solution: ARFoodJobs.com.

It’s more than a job board…I like to say we’re matchmakers for Arkansas’ growing culinary and hospitality industry and the state’s most qualified job candidates in these areas.

Our matchmaking is made possible through strategic affiliate partnerships with Pulaski Technical College – Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management Institute and the Arkansas Hospitality Association. With their help, we are gathering the resumes of the state’s best food job candidates, from students to seasoned (ha) veterans, and helping them connect with employers. Some people need a little nudge first to a resume writing service to help them out, but after that, it tends to be plain sailing.

May I ask for your help in getting us started? It’s a big week. Help a sistah out.

1. Employers: Register as an employer on the site (click “register” and follow prompts). If you have a job opening right now, you can start at the “Post a Job” menu button and it will register you automatically in the process. Use coupon code APRILFOOLFREE to get free job listings all month in April.

2. Job Seekers: Select “Post a Resume” under “Find a Job” on the site and you’ll be registered as a job seeker in the process. Then fill in our resume form as well as attach your Word or PDF formatted resume which you can create with software as sodapdf online. Please do both, as the form is searchable by employers, and they also like one to print out. If you’d rather be stealthy about your job search, you can just click “Register” and sign up as a candidate.

3. Everyone Else: If you’re not in the industry or not currently looking, please share this site with others. The more jobs and resumes we have listed, the better it will work for everyone.

Thank you in advance for your support. It means so much. What a great food culture we have right here in Arkansas!

Save the Date: 2014 Arkansas Blogger Bake Sale is Coming!

March 13, 2014 by arfoodie

Arkansas Blogger Bake Sale for No Kid Hungry
Saturday, May 3, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.+
6th and Main, North Little Rock
(Next to the Argenta Certified Arkansas Farmers’ Market)

Click here to bake or volunteer

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Hey friends,

I see from my search terms that some of you are looking for details about the upcoming Arkansas Blogger Bake Sale for No Kid Hungry! So, I suppose it’s time to tell you what’s up for 2014. (First note: You may have noticed that the word “Food” is missing from the formerly-Food-Blogger-Bake-Sale. This came from the No Kid Hungry national folks, as to involve more non-food bloggers, which we did anyways.)

Background

If you’re unfamiliar, No Kid Hungry is a national nonprofit with several programs that fight childhood hunger in the United States. I’ve been a part of one of them, Cooking Matters, which teaches lower-income families about nutrition and basic cooking skills. Our books, program materials and much of the food were made possible by bake sales just like this one. Bake sales make a difference!

Event Details

This year’s bake sale is Saturday, May 3, at our same location at the Argenta Certified Arkansas Farmers’ Market, 6th and Main in North Little Rock. The hours will be at least 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., but we’re thinking about extending them to catch more folks going to another event in the area later that day.

New this year: a crafting/tag-making/decor prepping party for those of you who can’t bake your way out of a Ziplock bag. (Ha! Or even if you can…) That will be on April 12, 3 – 6 p.m. (will send address to RSVPs). We’ll make tags for the baked goods, thank-you cards for donors, crafty items for the auction and some decor for the bake sale itself.

Bigger and better this year: an online silent auction for larger baked goods and even non-food goods and services donated by area businesses. Check it out here in coming weeks.

How to Help

Open this Google doc and fill in whatever you think you might be able to do or provide. It’s okay if the details are sketchy right now. 🙂 The possibilities include:

Bake items for the sale (both individuals and professionals)
Help during the sale
Donate items for the pre-sale auction (doesn’t have to be food)
Attend the crafting/tag-making party

You can also just help us promote the sale itself on your own social channels. Please tag our Facebook page as well as No Kid Hungry’s Facebook or Twitter.

THANK YOU, and watch the Facebook page and our bake sale website for more details!

2014 Diamond Chef Prelims Play by Play

March 6, 2014 by arfoodie

Chef Philippe Ducrot of Pulaski Tech (right) looks on as his sous works on a basket ingredient.

Check here for live updates on today’s 2014 Diamond Chef preliminary competition. Today’s results will choose the competitor who will cook against Chef Dan Capello in the Diamond Chef final event on June 3.

You can drop in anytime today between 2 – 8 p.m. to watch the action yourself. Free appetizers and beverages will be available for the final rounds, 5 – 8 p.m.

Heat 1:
Chef Philippe Ducrot of PTC Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management Institute vs. Chef Coby Smith of Arkansas Heart Hospital.

Basket ingredients:
Eye of round, buttermilk, meyer lemons, parsnips, toasted sesame water crackers, tequila, salted caramel Cracker Jacks, sassafras.

Winner: Chef Philippe Ducrot of Pulaski Tech.

Heat 2:
Chef Marc Guizol of the Capital Hotel vs. Chef Elliot Jones of YaYa’s.

Basket ingredients:
Chuck roll, ice cream mix, guava, fava beans, Funyuns, marinated peppers, peppermint Schnapps, lemon verbena powder.

Winner: Chef Marc Guizol of Capital Hotel.

Heat 3:
Chef Jason Morell of Starving Artist vs. Chef Payne Harding of Cache.
Winner will move on to compete against Chef Guizol.

Basket ingredients:
Beef bottom round, cottage cheese, seckel pears, porcini mushrooms, cheddar and jalapeño chips, hearts of palm, Szechuan peppercorns, Gentleman Jack.

Winner: Chef Payne Harding of Cache.

Semifinal:
Chef Philippe Ducrot of Pulaski Tech vs. Chef Payne Harding of Cache.

Basket ingredients:
Tri-tip, sour cream, dragon fruit, Belgian endive, mango chutney, cheddar munchies, Gold Bacardi rum, hibiscus powder

Winner: Chef Philippe Ducrot of Pulaski Tech.

FINAL:
Chef Philippe Ducrot vs. Chef Marc Guizol.

Basket ingredients:
Strip loin, plain lowfat yogurt, passionfruit, sunchoke, saffron, instant oatmeal, vodka, cocoa nibs.

Winning dish by Chef Marc Guizol of the Capital Hotel.

PRELIMINARY COMPETITION WINNER:
Chef Marc Guizol of the Capital Hotel.

Chef Guizol will compete against last year’s winner, Chef Dan Capello, in the ticketed final event at the Statehouse Convention Center on June 3.

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ProStart Culinary/Hospitality Winners Announced; Diamond Chef Prelims Tomorrow

March 5, 2014 by arfoodie

A student from North Pulaski High School’s Simply Delicious restaurant competing last week. North Pulaski’s team won the culinary competition.

If the weather outside hasn’t caught on that it’s almost spring, the event calendar is getting the hint. This time of year brings back some of our favorite food-themed competitions and events.

Last week, the annual ProStart Student Invitational brought the state’s top high school culinary and hospitality programs to Pulaski Tech’s Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management Institute for a couple days of intense competition. (What, you didn’t know ProStart was a thing? It’s like home ec on steroids, doing a lot of the stuff we did in culinary school.)

Thursday, six culinary teams were set up in the institute’s open atrium, each at a professional workstation. Each team presented a multi-course menu to a team of judges, and I got to watch some of the cooking action. These guys and gals had it going on.

In the end, North Pulaski High School’s Simply Delicious restaurant team won the culinary competition. On Friday, Northwest Arkansas Community College Early College Experience won the hospitality management competition. Both teams will advance to the national ProStart competition.

Tomorrow, the Diamond Chef preliminary competition takes place from 2 – 8 p.m., also at Pulaski Tech CAHMI. This free event is to identify this year’s competitor against last year’s champion, Chef Dan Capello of Chenal Country Club, in the ticketed final event on June 3 at the Statehouse Convention Center.

The schedule has just been announced:

Heat 1, 2pm: Chef Ducrot of PTC Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management Institute vs. Chef Coby Smith of Arkansas Heart Hospital.

Heat 2, 3:00pm: Chef Marc Guizol of the Capital Hotel vs. Chef Elliot Jones of YaYa’s.

Heat 3 at 4p: Chef Jason Morell of Starving Artist vs. Chef Payne Harding of Cache.

The final two rounds after that will determine this year’s competitor.

*****

Photos from last week’s ProStart competition:

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