Winner of the 2010 Fire on the Rock Chef Challenge, Sam Beasley
of the Gamekeeper Restaurant. Photo Kathy M. Newbern.
(Other chef photos courtesy Fire on the Rock Chef Challenge.)
By J.S. Fletcher and Kathy M. Newbern © 2010
Without question, the top of the rock at the Blue Ridge Wine and Food Festival was the Fire on the Rock Chef Challenge. From catchy name to top-of-the-line equipment by Viking Range Corporation to well-crafted stage setup and production to talented chefs, all from the Blowing Rock area, the event was entertaining and fun. Add to that that the event benefits the Blowing Rock Fire & Rescue, and you have a hit on your hands.
If you've watched TV's Iron Chef competitions, you have an idea of how Fire on the Rock is structured, but regardless, the key to this event is that you get to watch it live.
There are no edits, no post-production, no time-outs. Like the TV show, cameras were used to take shots of the chefs in action during the allotted hour to prepare and plate the food. Those cameras were manned by the firemen and broadcast on huge Mitsubishi monitors and a movie-theater sized screen at the rear of the stage.
Having the finals at the Hayes Performing Arts Center, Blowing Rock’s cultural epicenter, was perfect, and the weekend’s three segments of the Chef Challenge were a steal at $25 for a combo ticket or $10 for a single event. Five lucky people also got a memorable bargain when they snatched up $75 seats at the “Chef’s Table” placed at the front of the stage where they were served the finalists’ creations. While the judges only got seveal bites of the dishes, the lucky chef's table crew actually got to eat these creative meals. Afterward, one diner told us the food was "amazing."
Priror to the festival finals, elimination competitions were held at Crippen’s Restaurant where every Tuesday and Wednesday leading up to finals, the eating audience got to judge six-course dinners and decide who would advance. Another great deal at $39. (Left: Restaurateur and emcee Jimmy Crippen on stage. Photo: J.S. Fletcher)
For the finals, culinary experts and writers were brought in to decide the winners through a rubric of criteria run through a computer program that long-standing restaurant reviewer for the Greensboro (NC) News and Record and head judge John Batchelor has devised. Other judges were Donna Florio - senior writer for Southern Living Magazine; Marcia Langhenry - an editor at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution; Jane Garvey - a regional editor (Southeast) for gayot.com; and Moreton Neal - writer for Raleigh Metro Magazine.
Twenty chefs began, and by Saturday’s semi-finals, only four were standing: Sam Beasley of the Gamekeeper Restaurant against Andrew Long (left) from Storie Street Grill; Jason Jarrell (lower right) from Rowland’s at Westglow Resort and Spa (whose dinner wowed us two nights before) against Nicole Palazzo (Lower left) of Sorrento’s Bistro in Banner Elk.
Each chef had two helpers and could choose from 
local produce supplied by Got to Be NC Products. A “mystery” main ingredient was dramatically revealed at the start of the contest - lowered on trays from ceiling level on stage. Spring lamb was the product for the session we witnessed. Each chef could bring a “bag of tricks,” valued up to $100. Each winning team through the competition took home a prize of $500 per victory.
Each team was allowed 60 minutes, and once the food hit the grills, the theater took on a delicious aroma. A chef ref and an announcer roamed the stage to check the progress and provide commentary. Also on the mike was Jimmy Crippen, event organizer and owner of Crippen’s Restaurant, who certainly has a theatrical bent, and his levity and knowledge we
re nicely balanced.
All in all, it was a very polished, dramatic, and action-packed performance. And from what the judges and patrons at the Chef's Table said, the food was outstanding.
Semi-final winners were Beasley over Long; Jarrell over Palazzo.
Congrats to the 2010 top chef in the Fire on the Rock Chef Challenge, Sam Beasley of the GameKeeper Restaurant in Blowing Rock.
(below).
Fire on the Rock at the Blue Ridge Wine and Food Festival is a great event. And if you can attend any Chefs Challenge evenings at Crippen's leading up to next year's finals, go for it.The only thing we were disappointed with was that we didn’t get to eat the food.
Next year’s festival is April 14-17, 2011.
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International Travel Examiner J.S. Fletcher and spouse, Kathy M. Newbern, report on luxury destinations, spas and cruising around the globe. They are award-winning members of the Society of American Travel Writers and operate YourNovel.com, their personalized romance novel business.
Comments
how much are they paying you to advertise for them? where are all of the other raleigh travel writers? why don't you just get a website of your own? i'm going to read charlotte from now on. they don't have one person or couple taking all the space.
Great coverage of all these events. You are keeping us informed with your good articles.
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