Fancy Pants Foodie

Foodie news, reviews and how-tos from Arkansas and beyond.

Culinary Classic at Arkansas Hospitality Association Convention 2012

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She-Crab Soup by Chef Andre Poirot and culinary staff at the Peabody Hotel.

Second Update: Award winners are now listed.

Updated: Full dish descriptions are now in the photo captions. Please let me know if I missed a chef’s name, as there were often several at one station.

It’s time once again for my favorite food event of the year, the Arkansas Hospitality Association Convention and Trade Show!

Last night, I attended the opening event, the Culinary Classic. It’s a competition event in which Arkansas chefs prepare their best dishes featuring products from sponsors, such as the Arkansas Beef Council and Coleman Dairy. Paying diners visit each chef’s station, as well as an open bar of adult beverages from Glazers, sampling mini plates of each item. There is also a silent auction, live music and lots of great company, seated come-and-go style at round tables as they try their plates in hand.

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Arkansas Hospitality Association and Iron Chef Competition

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It’s here! My favorite convention of the year, the Arkansas Hospitality Association.

Today, several of my fellow students and I are eating, looking and learning; booths here range from large food purveyors such as Ben E. Keith and Sysco to hotel service providers and restaurants. Meanwhile, the annual Iron Chef competition booms in the background. I’ll bring you updates on each heat as they come in.

Iron Chef Competition

Heat 1: Kathy Webb of Lily’s Dim Sum, Then Some and Heather Brown of Alice 107.7 vs. Brandon Douglas of Big Rock Bistro, Pulaski Tech and Poolboy of Alice 107.7
Mystery Protein: Duck Breast
Winner: Brandon Douglas and Poolboy

Egg dishes from Heat 2.

Heat 2: Jason Knapp and Doug Spharler of Pulaski Tech vs. Lewis Curtis and J. Matt Lile of Lulav.
Mystery Protein: Egg
Winner: Jason Knapp and Doug Spharler of Pulaski Tech

Top sirloin dish by Simply the Best.

Heat 3: Jason Godwin and Joel Carr of Simply the Best vs. Tung Nguyen and Howard Austion of Southland Park Gaming & Racing.
Mystery Protein: Top Sirloin
Winner: Jason Godwin and Joel Carr of Simply the Best

Heat 4: Ted Roman and Jody Smallwood of the Arlington Hotel vs. Rob Nelson and James Rose of River Grille.
Mystery Protein: Tuna
Winner: Rob Nelson and James Rose of River Grille.

FINAL OVERALL WINNERS:
Rob Nelson and James Rose of River Grille

Iron Chef winners Rob Nelson and sous James Rose of River Grille.

Chef Rob Nelson busting a move.

Here are some photos from the convention, as well as Wednesday’s heats of Iron Chef. Please forgive any lack of detail until I have time to fill in.

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Foodie Event: Iron Chef at Arkansas Hospitality Association Convention and Tradeshow

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(Update 9/29…See all participants and results below photos. Thanks to Holly Heer with AHA.)

Greetings, Foodies!

If you didn’t know, the Arkansas Iron Chef competition takes place annually on the Arkansas Hospitality Association convention and tradeshow floor, over the two days of the conference. Thanks to winning a couple silent auctions Tuesday night, I had the opportunity to sit in on yesterday’s Heat 2, and today’s final round.

As reported earlier, I tasted the results of yesterday’s Heat 2 between the boys from Forty Two and Simply the Best, with Forty Two winning. Here are the dishes from that round, using duck as the surprise ingredient:

Iron Chef Heat 2 dish by Chef Jacob Peck and Sous Chef Greg Wallis of Forty Two.Roasted duck with a mango gastrique, asparagus and couscous.

Iron Chef Heat 2 dish by Chef Jacob Peck and Sous Chef Greg Wallis of Forty Two. Roasted duck with a mango gastrique, asparagus and couscous.

Simply the Best

Iron Chef Heat 2 entry by Chef Jason Godwin and Sous Chef Willie Yearwood of Simply the Best. Seared duck breast with tomato onion jam, asparagus and mozzarella tortellini, and mushroom cream sauce.

I’m not going to pick favorites here, as they were both incredible. But let me just tell you…that “onion tomato jam,” as bizarre as it sounds to most of us, was slap-your-momma good. I was literally whacking the table. Mmmm. But both were wonderful, and Forty Two won the heat with tons of points, carrying them immediately to the final round.

**Intermission** I have to tell a funny story. I thought all this time that my second silent auction prize was for the Semi-Final round. It said so on the ticket. I sit down today at the appropriate time, and the folks in charge politely shoo me out, as someone else had won that tasting. Turns out that my ticket was misprinted, and I had, in fact, won the FINAL round tasting. Booyah!

The final round was between Chef Jacob Peck and Sous Chef Greg Wallis of Forty Two, and Chef Osi Imomoh and Sous Chef Howard Austion of Southland Park Gaming & Racing. The surprise protein was — wait for it — rabbit. I think I was the only one to chuckle, picturing the poor old rabbit form they used to use at the greyhound races. (They tell me it’s now a bone shape that draws the doggies around the track.)

Me 'n' Mona about to eat some good stuff.

Me 'n' Mona about to eat some good stuff.

Since I had so much food to myself yesterday for Heat 2, I invited a friend, Ramona Collins (@monaspoeticwax) to eat with me. Our lives have crossed paths in several weird ways over our lives, and we’re just now getting to know each other. What a great way to do so, over great food!

Here are the two dishes we tasted for the final round:

Iron Chef Final Round dish by Chef Osi Imomoh and Sous Chef Howard Austion of Southland Park Gaming & Racing. Smothered rabbit with cornmeal johnnycake, greens and roasted squash.

Iron Chef Final Round dish by Chef Osi Imomoh and Sous Chef Howard Austion of Southland Park Gaming & Racing. Smothered rabbit with cornmeal johnnycake, greens and roasted squash.

Iron Chef Final Round dish by Chef Jacob Peck and Sous Chef Greg Wallis of Forty Two. Roasted rabbit with a raspberry coulis, sweet applesauce, carrots and greens w/bacon. This was the winning dish.

Iron Chef Final Round dish by Chef Jacob Peck and Sous Chef Greg Wallis of Forty Two. Roasted rabbit with a raspberry coulis, sweet applesauce, carrots and greens w/bacon. This was the winning dish.

IRON CHEF COMPETITION PHOTOS:

Wednesday, September 23

Heat 1, Celebrity Round – Chef Jamie McAfee, Pine Pluff Country Club & Steve Marston, Point 94.1 vs. Chef Andre Poirot, Peabody Hotel & Jennifer Trafford, Point 94.1

Winner: Poirot & Trafford

Heat 2 – Chef Jacob Peck & Sous Chef Greg Wallis, 42 vs. Chef Jason Godwin & Sous Chef Willie Yearwood, Simply the Best Catering

Winner: 42

Heat 3 – Chef Ted Roman & Sous Chef Jody Smallwood, Arlington Resort Hotel & Spa vs. Chef Osi Imomoh & Sous Chef Howard Austion, Southland Park Gaming & Racing

Winner: Southland Park Gaming & Racing

Heat 4 – Chef Phillip Southan, River Grille & Sous Chef Krista Rogalla, Pulaski Tech Culinary School vs. Chef Nathan Miller & Sous Chef Karle Johnson, The House

Winner: The House

Thursday, September 24

Semi-Finals

Chef Osi Imomoh & Sous Chef Howard Austion, Southland Park Gaming & Racing vs. Chef Nathan Miller & Sous Chef Karle Johnson, The House

Winner: Southland Park Gaming & Racing

Finals

Chef Osi Imomoh & Sous Chef Howard Austion, Southland Park Gaming & Racing vs. Chef Jacob Peck & Sous Chef Greg Wallis, 42

Iron Chef Champion: 42

Foodie Event: Chef’s Culinary Classic, Part 2 and more

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(Update 9/28, award winners listed below photos. Thanks to Holly Heer with AHA.)

Today, I spent a good part of the day at the Arkansas Hospitality Association’s annual tradeshow and convention. I love conventions, especially this one! Lots of great opportunities to rub elbows with fellow foodies. This was especially so at the Iron Chef competition, which had its first several heats today. I got to be a taster (but not a judge) in the second heat today. Each round had a new protein for the secret ingredient; the protein for the round I sat in for was duck. Yum!

Tomorrow, I get to be a taster again in the semi-final round. I’ll hang out for the final round and report more at that time. If you absolutely need at least one or two photos of Iron Chef right away, follow me on Twitter (@ARFoodie) and check out my Twitpics from today.

Meanwhile, I want to give you the final scoop on yesterday’s post, the Arkansas Chef’s Culinary Classic. The AHA folks haven’t gotten back with me on all the final winners (they’re busy with the convention and all), but I’ll update as soon as I have that info.

I did want to let you know about some of the highlights:

  • Watermelon and mint salad with balsamic vinegar by the Chef Osi Imomoh and Sous Chef Howard Austion at Southland Park Gaming & Racing. Must get recipe…there were two unusual types of melon involved.
  • Beautiful lamb chop with a fruit relish and Asian salad by Chef Jamie McAfee of the Pine Bluff Country Club.
  • London broil steak salad by Chef Tyler Husser and Chef Jerry Dolson of Hilton, Little Rock.
  • Saffron shrimp bisque by Chef Donnie Ferneau of the restaurant Ferneau.
  • An amazing Tahitian vanilla bean gelato with homemade maraschino cherries by Chef Adam Hanry of the Ozark Conference Center. This won best dessert, and rightfully so.
  • And my favorite…the roasted beef tenderloin with compound butter sauce by Chef Jason Knapp of the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion. Wondering if Gov. Beebe is gaining weight? Chef Jason is the culprit. (See photo from yesterday’s post.)

I also had to mention separately a remarkable find, but one you won’t be able to visit. That is, unless you work at the Dillard’s corporate offices on Cantrell. Bistro 1600, exclusively owned and operated by the food and beverage services of said corporate office, offered an impressive lineup. Hubby and I could not believe the food was not from a hoity-toity downtown restaurant. Chef Norman Geisselbrecht, Chef Michael J. Mass and Chef Marjis Meti presented dishes nothing less than divine. (My notes, other than WOW, got mixed up. In order to get the exact dishes right, I’ll have to update when I get the list.) The chefs were excited about food and about pleasing the diner, whether that be a top executive or hourly grunt.

Well, I just spent about half an hour writing captions for all these photos, and the computer ate them somehow. Until I put in a new plugin (I’m thinking something Flash based), you’ll just have to guess what each is. But they sure are purty!

What a busy foodie week…more tomorrow on Iron Chef, the AHA convention, and…oh yeah…tomorrow’s Taste of the Town in North Little Rock. Eat up!

ARKANSAS CHEF’S CULINARY CLASSIC PHOTOS

Award Winners:

Appetizer

1st Donnie Ferneau, Ferneau – Ahi Tuna nachos

2nd Adam Hanry, Ozark Conference Center – Pork rinds w/lime salt

3rd Will Hutchison, Pulaski Tech Culinary School – Slow Roast of Strip loin

Soup/Salad

1st Andre Poirot, Peabody Hotel – Wild Mushroom soup

2nd Ted Roman, Arlington Resort Hotel & Spa – Acorn Squash Bisque

3rd Osi Imomoh, Southland Park Gaming & Racing – Watermelon Splash Salad

Entrée

1st Jason Knapp, AR Governor’s Mansion – Seared filet of beef

2nd Joe Coleman, Peabody Hotel – Blue cheese stuffed beef roulade

3rd Donnie Ferneau, Ferneau – Beef wellington w/brie

Dessert

1st Adam Hanry, Ozark Conference Center – Standing ice cream cone

2nd Brian Cochrane, Pulaski Tech Culinary School – Almond Florentine

3rd Christian Alexander, Peabody Hotel – Cake & mousse dessert

Coleman Pride Award

Andre Poirot, Peabody Hotel – Wild Mushroom Soup

Best of Beef

Jason Knapp, AR Governor’s Mansion – Seared filet of beef

People’s Choice Award

Jamie McAfee, Pine Bluff Country Club – Asian Lamb Chop

Foodie Event: Ark. Chef’s Culinary Classic, Part 1

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I don’t have time to write the entire post this event deserved, but I had to give you a little taste of what hubs and I experienced tonight.

Tomorrow begins the Arkansas Hospitality Association’s annual convention and tradeshow. I love conventions — one of the things I actually miss from my PR days — and all the events that go with them. As a preview event, tonight AHA had many of the top chefs across the state prepare small dishes and compete for cash prizes.

Hubs and I ate all kinds of wonderful things, to the point that we were surprisingly stuffed from all those teeny plates. But the most fun, for me, was to visit with all the chefs and “talk foodie.” I just about had a spell listening to Chef Donnie Ferneau (of the restaurant Ferneau) explain to my hubs why his Saffron Shrimp Bisque reminded my man of his days in Charleston, SC. Something about classical French technique, velouté sauce, and I got a little woozy after that.

I’ll have an update of who all made what and won what, along with more photos of the participants, tomorrow or so. But for now, I just wanted to share a little taste.

London Broil Steak Salad from Hilton of Little Rock, and Wild Mushroom Soup and Tuna Tartare from The Peabody Hotel.

London Broil Steak Salad from Hilton of Little Rock, and Wild Mushroom Soup and Tuna Tartare from The Peabody Hotel.

My pick for winner of the night...simple, yet stunning. Roasted beef tenderloin w/compound butter sauce from Chef Jason Knapp of the Governor's Mansion.

My pick for winner of the night...simple, yet stunning. Roasted beef tenderloin w/compound butter sauce from Chef Jason Knapp of the Governor's Mansion.

Me eating tuna tartare for the first time. I was surprised I actually liked it.

Me eating tuna tartare for the first time. I was surprised I actually liked it.