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Knapp, Capello to Battle at Diamond Chef Arkansas on June 4

May 28, 2013 by arfoodie

Diamond Chef 2013It’s time again for one of the best culinary events of the year, Diamond Chef Arkansas, which will take place on Tuesday, June 4 at the Statehouse Convention Center. The event benefits the Pulaski Technical College Foundation. Tickets are $200 and can be purchased online.

The preliminaries to this event were held in February at the then-Peabody Hotel, with Chef Dan Capello of the Chenal Country Club winning the elimination-style competition. The final event next week will pit Capello against last year’s winner, Chef Jason Knapp of Aramark at the University of Central Arkansas in a live-action dinner throwdown.

While guests dine on an unrelated three-course dinner with wine, the chefs will be presented with a mystery ingredient that must be used in a three-course meal of their choosing. The mayhem that results is quite the stage show, especially for those of us who know just enough to talk a little bit of smack about what we would do. (Last year, I totally called the sabayon sauces and a couple other things they made from the ostrich egg mystery ingredient. Not that I could do theirs justice.)

If you’re also a sucker for silent auctions like me, there will be plenty. Items range from glassware and kitchen gadgets to fine dining and wine pairing experiences. The fairly-infamous live auction also brings in the heavies, bidding on elaborate in-home dinners and even food-related travel. Someday, when I’m rich and famous, I’ll bid on the trip to The French Laundry that sometimes comes up.

Should you go? Um, yes. If $200 is too rich for your blood (and you’re not a culinary student who can schlep in for free), ask your employer to sponsor a table, or get all friendly-like with one who already has.

And now, my confession…I’ve live-blogged this event for years, and this time I will be on family vacation. It just turned out that way. I expect the good PR folks at Pulaski Tech will tweet and such, so give them a follow if you can’t get yourself to this outstanding event.

Filed Under: Events, Foodie News Tagged With: Aramark, Chenal Country Club, Dan Capello, Daniel Capello, Diamond Chef 2013, Jason Knapp, PTC, Pulaski Technical College, UCA

Culinary Inspiration at Wildwood Wine and Food Festival

September 16, 2012 by arfoodie

Points for the most creative (and possibly the most delicious and complex) dish goes to Oceans for their tuna tataki. It was served on a watermelon base with fresh cucumber, sriracha, spicy mayo, and caviar. A bit hard to eat, but the combination of spicy, sweet, salty and savory was a bite to behold.

On Friday night, I got to experience the Wildwood Wine and Food Festival in a completely new way — as a diner.

In the past, if I was at this event, it was as a culinary student, serving up items we had made in class. This year, I got to casually walk from station to station, chatting with the chefs and visiting with friends I saw there. It was kinda fabulous, other than trying to figure out what in the world to wear since I couldn’t wear a chef coat!

Having this extra time to savor each dish (or at least study the gluten-having ones I couldn’t eat) also allowed me to learn more about each chef’s philosophy and ways to use different ingredients. I’m sharing some of these items with you in the slideshow below so we can be inspired together.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Filed Under: Drinks, Events, Foodie News Tagged With: Acadia, Ashton Israsena, Bosco's, Bravo, Brian Plummer, Chenal Country Club, Chera Morris, Cupcakes on Kavanaugh, Dan Capello, Daniel Capello, Daniel Carroccio, Gaucho's, James Hale, Jill McDonald, Kent Walker, Lulav, Matt Cooper, Oceans, Scallions, Wildwood, Wildwood Park, Wildwood Wine and Food Festival, Wine

Diamond Chef Finals Tomorrow

June 6, 2011 by arfoodie

Chef Malik reviews her mystery box ingredients during the March 2 preliminaries.

June 6, 2011

Today I was in the kitchen at Pulaski Technical College Arkansas Culinary School, the first day cooking for my summer class, Food Production III. I’ll write a separate post about that…stressful, but ended up okay!

While I was there, I noticed Chef Cindy Malik (known to some students as Chef East, as she got married last semester) and her hubby chatting with some of the other chefs. She was in street clothes — I hardly ever see her out of chef whites — but she meant business.

She’s playing two roles this week, both as lead instructor at the culinary school and a competitor in tomorrow’s Diamond Chef final, hosted by the same school. She won the preliminaries on March 2 against a bevy of local heavyweights to compete against last year’s Diamond Chef winner, Chef Daniel Capello of the Chenal Country Club.

Chef Dan Capello finishing his dish at last year's Wildwood Wine and Food Festival.

I’m sure it’s an awkward balance for her this week. She has worked very hard to practice, study, learn new techniques and memorize all kinds of possibilities for tomorrow’s black-box style competition (think Chopped on Food Network). Meanwhile, all her colleagues are putting together the actual event, including the secret ingredients that she can’t know anything about.

Chef Malik, from what I overheard, was informing the others about what she’d be bringing, since the competitors are allowed to bring some of their own equipment and product. After she left, the others whipped back into action, packing up all the pantry ingredients and equipment that the two competitors will have available during the competition, as well as the top-secret mystery baskets.

The Diamond Chef competition, a fundraiser for the Pulaski Technical College Foundation, will be held at the Statehouse Convention Center tomorrow night (Tuesday, June 7), with a reception at 6 p.m. and program at 7. Food fans can purchase tickets for $150 and enjoy a three course dinner — not the ones prepared by the competing chefs, but by the school’s other professionals and students — and watch the two competitors sweat and chop it out.

I was sick and wasn’t able to attend last year, so I am totally excited to be going tomorrow. I’m so excited, in fact, that I was willing to send my husband and kids ahead on our vacation to Charleston, S.C. without me, and I’m flying out Wednesday morning to meet them.

The school has me scheduled to help in the kitchen, but if I’m at all able, I hope to live-blog the event here and on Twitter as I did the Diamond Chef preliminaries. If you’re a Twitter bird, follow me at @ARFoodie. If nothing else, I’ll send some awesome behind-the-scenes photos of food and frenzy.

Deets:

June 7, 2011
Diamond Chef Arkansas – Finale
Statehouse Convention Center
6 p.m. Reception
7 p.m. Program
Table of 10 – $1,500
Individual Tickets – $150
For tickets, contact Yvette Henton at (501) 812-2271 or yhenton@pulaskitech.edu

The conclusion of the ultimate culinary competition will unfold on center stage. Chefs will have 60 minutes to prepare a three course meal for judging that features a mystery ingredient revealed just before the clock starts. Chefs are judged on creativity, taste, presentation and technical skills.  Guests are treated to a three course meal including wine.

Diamond Chef Arkansas is presented by Pulaski Technical College Foundation.

Filed Under: Foodie News, PTC_ACS Tagged With: 2011, Arkansas Culinary School, Chef Cindy East, Chef Cindy Malik, Chef Daniel Capello, Chenal Country Club, Diamond Chef, Pulaski Tech, Pulaski Technical College

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