Salt City Battle Chefs - Who Will Reign Supreme in the Syracuse Cuisine Scene
What happens when you take two seasoned chefs, put them in a restaurant kitchen, provide them with secret ingredients, and give them one hour to create something amazing? Well, when you add in the consummate host, Chance Bear, we can tell you that you have one fantastic time! This is exactly what we experienced Monday night when we visited The Ridge in Chittenango for the Salt City Battle Chefs throw-down. After watching many seasons of Iron Chef on the Food Network, it was exciting to see something similar a little closer to home. John D’Amore (aka Chef Broccoli) of Strada Mia 313 and Jason Jessmore from The Chef & The Cook battled it out to create two dishes using the secret ingredients: strawberry grouper and chioggia beets.
We arrived at The Ridge and were escorted downstairs where the chefs were prepping for battle. I always enjoy food events where I get to experience my favorite places in a more intimate setting, so having the opportunity to get a closer glimpse of the kitchen was a treat for me. We had the pleasure of watching demonstrations by John and Jason this summer at The Wegmans Demonstration Kitchen at The New York State Fair and knew that whatever happened, it was going to taste good. John was joined in the kitchen by Chef Paul Midgley and Jason was assisted by Phil, who works at Empire Brewery. While the chefs were working hard, the rest of us enjoyed a cheese platter and some barbecue chicken, brisket, and macaroni and cheese provided by The Ridge. We caught up with friends and made new ones (after all, anyone who likes food has plenty to talk about with us), all while watching the chefs in action.
When the hour was up we headed upstairs to watch the judges take their places at the table. Chris was one of the judges, along with Brandon Roth from Channel 3, Jonathon Merrick, Corporate Chef at Maines, and Tim Zdmil, Produce Specialist from Maines. The chefs presented their dishes and the judging panel got to work. The best part was the samples everyone got to taste before the winner was announced.
Chef Jessmore and his assistant, Phil, presented their dishes first. Their first dish was a Thai seafood borscht featuring a beet sour cream and scallions. The borscht was creamy, but the flavor for the fish overpowered the beets and you couldn’t taste them. The second dish was butter seared grouper with an edible flower and roasted beet farro risotto featuring a trio of beets: fire roasted, cured, and featured in a blood orange radish salsa. The dish was finished with fried brussels sprouts. The grouper was perfectly cooked and delicious, as expected because it was cooked in butter after all! The trio of beets gave different textures to contrast the starchiness of the farro and I appreciated the variety of techniques utilized in this dish. I am a huge fan of brussels sprouts and enjoyed the salty flavor as a contrast to the buttery grouper.
The first dish presented by Chef Broccoli and Chef Paul was a strawberry snapper ceviche with blood orange, beets, watermelon radish, and daikon. The dish had a clean flavor and was a good use of the secret ingredients, although it was hard to wrap my head around a ceviche when I was bundled up in a sweater and scarf. Their second dish was a chicken and beet ravioli with a blood orange carrot sauce, and pickled caulini. I absolutely loved the ravioli! The blood orange carrot sauce was delicious and I would happily eat it all throughout the season. The pickled caulini cut through the creaminess of the sauce and brightened the richness of the pasta. The only thing missing from this amazing dish was the strawberry grouper.
Now, as an avid Iron Chef watcher knows, the secret ingredients need to be featured in every dish. Many excellent dishes have lost in competitions due to a technicality. Both of Paul and John’s dishes had wonderful flavor, especially the carrot sauce on the ravioli, but the lack of grouper in the ravioli and that you could not really make out the beet in the dish, hurt the challengers’ chances. After a long judge’s deliberation, the four came to a consensus that Battle Chef Jason Jessmore reigned supreme on Monday night!
We can’t wait for the next Salt City Battle Chef’s competition that goes off once per month at The Ridge. Stay on the look out on the WeEatCNY.com Local Events calendar to stay in the know for great food events around the area.
