Eric Grutka Wins Feast of the Sea’s Celebrity Chefs’ Challenge Semifinal #4
Williams-Sonoma played host to Semifinal #4, stacked with an all-star lineup of local celebrity chefs representing their high-end restaurants and showcasing their culinary skills.
West Palm Beach, Fla. – Feast of the Sea (feastofthesea.com), a free general admission seafood festival reaching port on October 24, showcased Palm Beach County’s best restaurants and chefs in their highly talented Celebrity Chefs’ Challenge Series. The semifinals are complete; there are four chefs left standing plus last year’s champion. By the end of the evening on October 23, there will only be one winner of the 2015 Maestro Del Mar Chef Challenge Series.
The fourth Maestro del Mar semifinal challenge, presented by the Arts & Entertainment District of West Palm Beach, was held at the Williams-Sonoma in The Gardens Mall, Palm Beach Gardens, and featured four celebrity chefs from the Palm Beaches. Each chef was given their secret ingredient, Florida spiny lobster tail, along with pantry items provided by Whole Foods Market in West Palm Beach. The evening’s host, Maude Eaton, and chef ambassador and co-host, Roy Villacrusis, kept the evening interesting and informative as guests mingled and sampled food and wine situated throughout the store.
Chef Sean Collins of Brio Tuscan Grille presented a boiled lobster tail with potatoes, cherry tomatoes, asparagus, and a mango citrus vinaigrette.
Executive Chef Michael Molloy from Wyndham Grand Jupiter at Harbourside Place served butter- poached spiny lobster tail with braised red cabbage, sweet potato foam, charred asparagus purée, and crisp baby bella mushrooms.
Adam Brown, Executive Chef of The Cooper Craft Kitchen & Bar, prepared gochujang lobster quinoa and “fried rice” lobster medallions over a ragout of shaved asparagus and mushrooms, with golden quinoa and a blueberry gastrique.
Chef Eric Grutka of Ian’s Tropical Grill presented his first dish of a ceviche of lobster, avocado, citrus-marinated apple, strawberry, burnt miso butterscotch, habañero, and sea salt. His second dish was a citrus butter-poached lobster with smoked avocado crema, lobster and citrus buerre blanc, green onion, and pink Hawaiian sea salt.
After tasting and scoring, the evening’s judges, Celine Pelofi, Ms. United States (a registered dietitian), Christine Najac, managing director of South Florida Food & Wine, and Jan Norris, Elite Food Critic for Florida Food & Farm, chose Eric Grutka of Ian’s Tropical Grill in Stuart, Fla., as the lone wolf and the last finalist to compete for the championship.
On October 23, Chef Eric Grutka will join Chef Blake Malatesta from 50 Ocean, Chef Fritz Cassel from Hullabaloo, Chef Clay Carnes from The Grille Fashion Cuisine in Wellington, and Chef Eugenio Santucci from Santucci Ristorante for the grand tasting finale at the waterfront docks in downtown West Palm Beach. Come witness the crowning of the Feast of the Sea’s second Maestro del Mar Chef Challenge Series champion.