JUDGES
Danielle Brookes
Madison Cowan
Mitchel London
team one
Team One consisted of Simone Boyce, entertainment reporter of Fox 5 in NYC, and Manuel Trevino, NYC corporate executive chef and regular on Top Chef. They prepared three dishes consisting of a barratta with frisee, a light fish dish with a cauliflower puree, and a sweeter dish with peaches and savory cream on a biscuit.
team two
Team Two comprised of Lisa Mateo, a correspondent on NY’s PIX11, and Jordan Andino, a chef contestant from Chopped. They prepared a penne pasta dish in a cream sauce topped with grilled shrimp, a juicy chicken breast on yellow rice with asparagus and topped with mango, and finished it with a decadent bread pudding with cinnamon and blueberries.
Judging
The judges were Mitchel London, the Chef de Cuisine of Fairways Markets and definitely the Simon Cowell-esque character in the group; Madison Cowan, British chef you may know as the first Grand Champion of Chopped who is also an author and avid philanthropist; and the lovely Danielle Brooks who plays Taystee in the hit show Orange is the New Black.
After everyone arrived, Team One got to rapidly shopping around Fairways and hustling in the kitchen as they had only 30 minutes to prepare their food for the judges. As the timer indicated times-up, the judges took their places and gave their opinions without revealing what they noted on their score cards.Same routine for Team Two, who actually went a little over the 30-minute mark, but was given as a courtesy as their main dish was chicken that needed cooking a little longer.
Both chef teams displayed great humility and team spirit. The foods’ presentations were on point and presented in a clear, informative manner.
The judges exhibited sophistication as they paired their tastes with a nice chardonnay and spoke eloquently about their opinions on the food—especially the Simon Cowell judge, Mitchel London, who kept us all grounded in the experience. The winning team will be announced by Daniel Radcliffe at our red carpet event!
photographer: Tony Gale
groomer: Jan Pedis
special thanks to:
Fairways Markets
Wedgewood Royal Doulton
Celebrity Cruises
Pernod Ricard
Wilhelm Gunter