AW Stories of the Month
2015 Feast of the Sea Chef Challenge – Semifinal #2
Story and Photos by Sherri Mraz
Maestro del Mar: 2015 Chef Challenge Series gathered foodies, photographers and friends to watch four local celebrity chefs from around Palm Beach County battle in the kitchen to determine who would compete in the series finale on Oct. 23rd in downtown West Palm Beach. The event was filled with excitement and suspense, held in the beautiful Wellington International Polo Club.
There were four chefs to compete in a cook off set up like the show, “Iron Chef.” They were given a secret ingredient, which turned out to be salmon, and were allowed to bring one of their own favorite ingredients. All remaining ingredients were chosen from a table of fresh produce, baked goods, and grocery items, courtesy of Whole Foods Market in West Palm.
The four chefs competing were Executive Chef William Sellner from the Polo Club’s Mallet Grille, Executive Chef Clay Carnes from The Grille Fashion Cuisine in Wellington, Executive Chef Bret Hauser of Pizzacraft and Executive Chef Elmer Saravia of Bice in Palm Beach.
Each chef had 60 minutes to create his own masterpiece salmon dish, while guests mingled and watched.
The three guest judges included Maude Eaton of For the Love of Food, Chef Manfred Schmidtke of the Lincoln Culinary Institute and Libby Volyges of Libbyvision.com. Each judge was presented a plate from each chef, as they described their dishes. Judges studied and tasted each entrée and chose their favorite based on taste, creativity and presentation.
The winning entrée was a Cajun-spiced salmon and fresh passion fruit vinaigrette from Chef Clay Carnes. Chef Clay’s favorite ingredient, which he brought along, was passion fruit. The plate was utterly magnificent!
Although the weather did not cooperate and the event went from being an outdoor poolside evening to an indoor event, all had a good time.
This was the second in a series of competitions with the next challenge happening Aug. 22nd at the Saltwater Brewery in Delray Beach, the fourth Sept. 27th at Williams-Sonoma in Palm Beach Gardens, and the final challenge being held Oct. 23rd at Dock on the Waterfront in West Palm Beach. You can get more information at www.FeastOfTheSea.com
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Sherri Mraz also writes “Health & Fitness” for AroundWellington.com every other month. She is also known as the Cookin’ Yogi and author of The Cookin’ Yogi’s, More Energy, Less Waist, runs corporate wellness programs and works with clients privately to improve their health. Sherri helps clients to avoid Fad Diets and information overload by creating personalized step by step meal and lifestyle plans. Her approach infuses mind, body and spirit. Sherri teaches healthy cooking classes, yoga and is a public speaker. Sherri has trained at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in NYC and is certified through Teachers College Columbia University and by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners (AADP) and partners with Hippocrates Health Institute. Please contact her at Sherri@CookinYogi.com or visit her website at www.CookinYogi.com