It is hard for us to believe that we have established a tradition here, but Sunday, November 11, 2012 marked our 5th annual Young Chef Competition in cooperation with Midwest Culinary Institute at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College. Past winners have gone on to professional culinary careers at local restaurants that are among the more popular and successful. We had more than ten participants striving to take that secret basket and make something wonderfully attractive and delicious. The contest started early in the morning as students went in pairs through the kitchen under the watch of judges to follow their skills. Then the finished dishes came to our culinary judges who tasted and commented on the final presentation.
Some Chaîne members (and parents!) came to view the preparations and the presented plates in the afternoon to get a first hand observation of young chefs at work. While that continued, other MCI culinary students were creating food for our award dinner taking place that evening. Our tradition is to have a dine-around where we bring wine to share with our Chaîne friends. We gathered at the Summit Restaurant where bronze, silver, and finally gold medals were awarded to the top contestants. Our victor was Jeff Moore who is Executive Chef at Blinkers Tavern in Covington, Kentucky and he will continue on to the Midwest Regional Competition in Springfield, Illinois in March 2013. Then it was time to graze at the multiple culinary stations as we enjoyed food, wine, and camaraderie of fellow guests and our top competing young chefs. Here’s to good luck for Chef Moore in the next round!
J.T. Mayer, Chargé de Presse Provincial Midwest