Food Fight For Scleroderma

I had the pleasure of attending the 6^th annual Food Fight for Scleroderma this past Sunday at the James Hotel in downtown Chicago. This annual event is a celebrity chef competition, modeled after the famed show Top Chef (including a previous Top Chef contestant as one of the competitors). You all know my absolute love for the show so it comes as no surprise that I thought this event was fantastic. And, there was one awesome twist that the TV show completely lacks….we, the audience, also got to be the food critic and help with judging!

Going into this event, I was pretty sure there was going to be zero for me to eat…meaning, I was banking on everything having either seafood or meat in it.  Probably just another event where I was going to enjoy wine and desserts as the only options. I think I let out a little shriek when I saw the program at the event and noticed one dish being prepared was completely vegetarian! OMG, I won’t go home completely hungry!

Mise en Place Spring Vegetables For Food Fight Competition

Here’s a list of who is who and what they prepared for us:

• Chef Giuseppe Tentori, GT Fish & Oyster – Lobster bruschetta with pistachio and grapefruit
• Chef Heather Terhune, Sable Kitchen & Bar – Spring vegetable ragout, creamy goat cheese grits, kale, balsamic reduction
• Chef Tom Van Lente, TWO Restaurant & Bar – Duck terrine, pecan toffee, pickled ramps, citrus and lavender

Food Fight Competition

The event was true Top Chef style with three cooking stations for each chef and their sous chef. While preparing their dish, emcee for the evening, Amanda Puck (the two-time Emmy Award winning original host of the show Check, Please), walked around and chatted with the chefs. It was a fun, entertaining way to learn about the food, hear a little smack-talk between the chefs and whet the appetite of the crowd.

Before the dishes were served, Amanda wanted to try and get a selfie with the chefs (a la, the Ellen selfie at the Oscars). She had the chefs and the three celebrity judges as well as a few extras from the audience come up on stage for the photo opportunity. I could not believe when I heard Amanda repeating my name over the microphone to get up on stage and be a part of the picture. Little blogger me with all the celebrity chefs?? OK??!!! I seriously could not get on that stage fast enough! We had a hard time doing the selfie because there were too many people, so it turned out to be just a picture (or as I like to call it, a not-so-selfie), but I still made it in the photo!

Not-So-Selfie At Food Fight Chicago

Vegetarian Dish At Food Fight

All attendees had the chance to sample each dish and cast their vote for their favorite. Obviously, since only one dish was vegetarian, Chef Heather Terhune’s (Top Chef Texas competitor) dish got my vote. And funny, if you know me and my aversion to goat cheese, it is shocking that I loved this dish so much…luckily the goat cheese was extremely subtle!

When the results were in and we were waiting for Amanda to make the announcement, I was keeping my fingers crossed for the vegetarian dish to win. That would really be the cherry on top for me to end such an awesome event.

And, drumroll please……I’m proud to say that the vegetarian dish won!!!! A huge congrats to Chef Heather and her team for a well-deserved win and a reminder that vegetarian food is awesome and can even beat out some of the best meat and seafood dishes around.

I’m now just patiently waiting for an invite from Padma Lakshmi and Tom Colicchio (from Top Chef) to join their esteemed judges panel on the TV show. I have legit experience now!