National Jeunes Chefs Rôtisseurs Competition
By Jim Ray, Southwest Chargé de Presse Provincial
Photos by Jim Ray and Sam Roberts
For those living in the United States, the first thing that inevitably springs to mind at the mention of San Antonio, Texas, is the Battle of the Alamo. However, U.S. Chaîne members who gathered in San Antonio on June 25 were captivated by a different battle—specifically, the National Jeunes Chefs Rôtisseurs competition in which ten young chefs from around the country vied for the gold medal. The competition was held at the San Antonio Culinary Institute of America, just a few miles from where the famed Battle of the Alamo occurred. Two days before the competition, the contestants—seven young men and three young women—arrived in San Antonio. Each of the eight Chaîne regions within the continental United States sent a candidate, as did the Atlantic/Caribbean Islands and Hawaii/ Pacific Islands regions. Their home for the next three days was the Hotel Valencia Riverwalk in the heart of the city. General Manager/San Antonio Maître Hôtelier Chad Taylor ensured that the young competitors, along with their families and other guests who were in town for the event, received the best service and attention possible.
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All aboard, let's head for the Alamo (but first let's stop for a beer at the Menger Bar!)
The young chefs spent
the day before the contest relaxing and getting to know the city. They assembled
outside of the Menger Hotel, which is directly across the street from the
historic battle site, for a guided tour of the Alamo. The Menger, built in 1859,
twenty-three years after the fall of the Alamo, remains one of San
Antonio’s most popular hotels due to its history, charm, and elegance. The
Menger Bar was Theodore Roosevelt’s headquarters for recruiting his Rough
Riders. Before his presidency, Mr. Roosevelt was assistant secretary of the
Navy. He resigned in 1898 to organize the Rough Riders—the first voluntary
cavalry in the Spanish-American War.
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Nice Photo - Click to expand!
After touring the Alamo, the group proceeded to
the Fiesta Spice Factory, which imports spices from more than sixty different
countries. The company’s specialty is authentic Mexican spices, although
shoppers can choose from more than six hundred products.
The below photo was taken in the warehouse of the Fiesta Spice Factory.
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| By the way, while touring through the warehouse, I saw this two-inch thick rope hanging down, attached to the beamed ceiling and got this grand idea for a photo. I told the group to wait right there. I climbed up the rope, wrapped my right leg around the rope to hold me in place, then grabbed high and with a straight arm held on with my left hand, then stuck my left leg out for balance and took the photo with my right hand. I was beginning to think I was going to need an extra hand, or an extra leg! Well, anyway, that's the way I remember it -- "Nice Shot Huh" |
Lunch was at the most colorful Mexican restaurant in town: La Margarita at El Mercado—mariachis included.
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Remember to click the tiny ones to enlarge!
At the end of the day, the contestants returned to the CIA, where the competition rules were laid out and staggered start times and workstations were assigned.
That evening, Chancelier
National Sandra Miller, Conseiller Culinaire et des Professionnel National Heinz
Hofmann, Executive Director Clyde Braunstein, and confrères from the San
Antonio Bailliage and visiting bailliages joined the young chefs and their families
for the
reception at the Hotel Valencia, followed by dinner at Bohanan’s Prime Steaks &
Seafood across the street. San Antonio Maître Grillardinn Mark Bohanann owns and
operates the eponymous restaurant, which Texas Monthly
voted the second-best steakhouse in the entire state. The counter in Bohanan’s
first-floor bar area measures seventy feet, making it the longest bar counter in
Texas. The venue is definitely a throwback to the nightclubs and speakeasies of
yore.
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The Reception at the Hotel Valencia Riverwalk |
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**New Orleans Bailli Yvette Cressend;;
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Whoops, we have been invaded
by the Red Ribbons! ***Conseiller Culinaire et des Professionnels National Heinz Hofmann ***Chaine #2 Leader -- Chancelier National, Sandra Miller; ***Argentier National Hon. Michael Parmet |
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Nancy, Cook-Monroe writer for the Express News - did everyone see her
photos and article **Maitre de Table Restaurateur John Marotta **Bailli S.A. Vivian Ray **Maitre de Table Restau... Moe & Mrs. Lazri |
Dinner at Bohanan's Restaurant Maître Grillardinn Mark Bohanann receives Chaine Professional Plaque from Joel Klein |
**New
Orleans Bailli Yvette Cressend; **Austin's Echanson Allen Valliant; ** SW Bailli Provincial , Rufus Cressend **Con' Cul' et des Prof' Nat. Heinz Hofmann **S A's Maitre de Table Restau... Moe Lazri |
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| John Wade, Sandi Miller, & Mark Berman | The Martinezes with three other happy ladies | Mia Despain, Nicklas Rosen, Bailli Denise Valliant, the Bartholomews from New Orleans, and Joel and Carol Klein |
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| Ok, guys! This is enough. Some of use have to get up at 6 a.m. in the morning. | ||
Saturday morning came early for the young chefs. At 7:30 a.m. sharp, the first competitor began reviewing the contents of the mystery basket. Each basket contained a rack of lamb, one-and-a-half pounds of whole redfish, two Cornish hens, fresh mussels, sweetbreads, king oyster mushrooms, mascarpone, couscous, and figs.
Competitors had thirty minutes to view the mystery basket contents and draft their three-course menu. They were required to prepare four identical servings of each course. At 8:00 a.m., the first contestant entered the cooking area with his completed menu to begin preparation. Three hours later, his appetizer was plated and ready to serve. Fifteen minutes after that, his entrée was ready, and after another fifteen-minute interval, his dessert was completed. The nine other contestants followed the same routine, with start times staggered at fifteen minute intervals.
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Northeast competitor Alex Stevens. |
South
Central competitor Eric Aubin |
Hawaii/Pacific Islands competitor Robin Abad. |
Midwest competitor Maria Lodyguina. |
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Pacific Northwest competitor Reilly Meehan. |
Far
West competitor Marissa Gerlach. |
Caribbean/Atlantic Islands competitor Richmond Fowler II. |
Southwest competitor Matt Baum. |
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| Stock
for young chefs to be used
as needed |
Mid-Atlantic competitor Austin Fausett |
Southeast competitor Rebekah Svoboda. |
The watchful eyes of San Antonio's Chef Rôtisseur / CIA Associate Director of Education April Goess and Chaine des Rôtisseurs National Executive Director, Clyde Braunstein |
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| 2011 San Antonio
Southwest Region Young Chef winner. San Antonio's Contestant for this National event was the winner of our Regional Event -- Young Chef Matt Baum, From the Argyle Private Dinning Club -- Commandeur, Maitre de Table Restaurateur John Marotta General Manager. (That's April in the background) |
Timed cooking tests are not new
to these young professionals. They have all been tested using this format
several times. Each contestant arrives at the national level already a winner.
Many have won their bailliage’s local competition, and all took first place in
their region’s Jeunes Chefs Rôtisseurs contest. Three of the contestants
competed nationally in previous years, one capturing the number-three spot in
2006 and another earning the silver medal in 2010. As the young chefs fashioned
their meals, the kitchen judges scored them on technique, organization, product
utilization, professionalism, sanitation, and timing.
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| #1 Northeast competitor, Alex Stevens completes his four plates of the main course. | The first contestant's three
course meal... Remember, One 3-plate meal goes here. The other 3 meals
go to the Tasting Room. . . Let the games begin -- bring them on . . . |
The spectators' table is beginning to fill up. By the way all this food is available for the spectators to eat once the competition has completed. | Some of the young chefs who are finished checking out the competition | ||
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 #3 meal goes here and split 3 ways |
 #4 meal goes here and is also split |
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| Ok, the last contestant's meal, #10, is on the display table | Refresher -- this was the mystery basket. Every ingredient must be used (not necessarily all, but some! | Three of the six tasting judges -- New Orleans Bailli Yvette Cressend, S.A. Express-News Food Writer Ed Tijerina, Mark Berman, SW Bailli Prov. Hon. | The other three tasting judges -- SW Conseiller Culinaire Prov. Mary Bartholomew, SC Conseiller Culinaire Prov. Peter Lehmuller, & CIA Director of Education David Kellaway, CMC, CEC. | ||
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| Officials and Judges for this event
(above): CIA Associate Professor Hinnerk von Bargen, Conseiller Culinaire National Hon. Jacques Fox, SW Conseiller Culinaire Provincial Mary Bartholomew, San Antonio Express-News Food Writer Ed Tijerina, SW Conseiller Culinaire Provincial Ed Pavelek, SW Bailli Provincial Joe Klein, New Orleans Bailli Yvette Cressend, SW Bailli Provincial Hon. Mark Bermann, SC Conseiller Culinaire Provincial Peter Lehmuller, CIA Associate Director of Education, Chef Rôtisseur , April Goess, Conseiller Culinaire et des Professionnels National Heinz Hofmann and CIA Director of Education David Kellaway, |
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Ok, end of day. Everything is tallied up, results finalized, and it's time to celebrate, drink a little Champagne, have a nice dinner, and to recognize where recognition is due. But first, let's take a photo. . .
| See below how to make a memory photo for a lot of young chefs. . . | |||
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| Find an empty lobby with red carpet and stairs with dripping water, and . . . | add ten young chefs, | throw in the Conseiller Culinaire et des Professionnels National, Heinz Hofmann, | find the Southwest Bailli Provincial
Joel Klein -- stick him in |
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| Add the Chaine Banner and Whalla!! |
No photos of the dinner; however, it was a full house
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| A couple of hard-working ladies! Carol Klein, Chargée de Missions Hon. Bailli, Vivian Ray |
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The reception, and the awards and recognition ceremony followed dinner.
Reception Photos
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| Ms. Cook, Bailli Vivian Ray, Chef Rôtisseur Chris Cook | John Wade, Catherine & Mark Milbourn | Heinz Hoffman, Dame Debbie Prost, John Wade, Catherine & Mark Milbourn | Jim and Vivian Ray |
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| Young Chef Matt Baum & Friend | Alright, let's get ready for Awards and Inductions | Wow, it looks like everyone has ants in their pants! |
During the ceremony, Conseiller Culinaire et des Professionnels Hofmann announced the winners of the 2011 National Jeunes Chefs Rôtisseurs competition.
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Taking the gold medal—and thereby securing entry into the International Jeunes Chefs Rôtisseurs competition in Turkey—was twenty-year-old Reilly Meehan of the Pacific Northwest region. Representatives from approximately twenty countries will compete for top honors in Istanbul. Mr. Meehan lives in Coos Bay, Oregon, where he attends the Oregon Coast Culinary Institute. His future plans include traveling extensively throughout large cities in the United States, expanding his knowledge and honing his craft. Eventually, he would like to duplicate this plan in Europe. |
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| The silver-medal winner was Eric Aubin of the South Central region. A graduate of the New England Culinary Institute in Vermont, the twenty-five-year-old chef currently works at The Biltmore Estate. He particularly enjoys the teaching aspect of the culinary industry and the idea of helping to shape the careers of aspiring young chefs. |
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| Taking home the bronze medal was twenty-three-year-old Maria Lodyguina from the Midwest region. Ms. Lodyguina currently works at the Minneapolis Club, having received her culinary education at Le Cordon Bleu in Minneapolis. She hopes to one day own her own bar and restaurant. |
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| Chef Rôtisseur
Chris Cook San Antonio Bailliage |
Chef Rôtisseur
Matt Baum San Antonio Bailliage |
Maître Hôtelier Chad Taylor San Antonio Bailliage |
After honoring all and awarding medals to the top three competitors, Chancelier National Miller inducted each young chef into the Chaîne’s professional ranks. In addition, two other professionals— Chris Cook of the Emily Morgan Hotel and our host, General Manager/Maître Hôtelier Chad Taylor—were inducted into the San Antonio Bailliage.
Well, that's it for another year. Wow! what a lot of work for all that got involved.
First the bailliage wants to thank those of you that came and participated in some of the events, dinners, receptions, ceremonies, etc. Let's see if I can remember who all got involved . . .
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The practice run at the Argyle
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| John Marotta | Tanji Patton, Moe Lazri, Pat Mozersky, Chris Walling | The Rays, the Salomons, The Milbourns, The Cohens, The Hoelschers, The Carrolls, The Kleins, The Mozerskys, The Wades, | ||
The Pre Dinner m The Pre-dinner (minus-2) at Boudro's at B oudros |
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| The Wades | The Salomons, The Rays, The Kleins, | |||
| m The Pre-dinner (minus-1) at Bohanan's at B | ||||
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| The Rays, the Lazri's | The Wade's | Mia and Nicholas, the Kleins, | Sean and Sylvia | |
| m The Competition and the Ceremonies | ||||
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| Our Bailli putting the menus, etc. together for the evening dinner | The Milbourns, Debbie Prost, The Wades | John Marotta, The Cohens, | ||
| Special mention goes out to the following individuals | ||||
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| Thanks Matt, Good Try, now start working on next year!! | Chad, you and your hotel staff were great. We appreciate your special attention devoted to our group while staying at the Hotel Valencia Riverwalk. Pass our appreciation along to all who were involved. | Thanks April, as usual, you and the other staff at the CIA, including your students helped tremendously. We could not have pulled this off if it were not for you guys. We thank you. |
| Special Appreciation goes out to those
individuals who worked late into the day/night and with little sleep
returned in the wee hours of the morning to continue to make sure that
everything was still running smoothly. . . |
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| Here's two of those ladies. | ||
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| What cha think Joel? Am I right about those two ladies? And what about yourself? Are you ready to get some rest? | ||
| Yep, I am. Good job Jim. Thanks, Good job back at ya, Joel. |
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