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Get Breaking News on your cellStephan & Dean: still dueling after all these years
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Here was the set-up: Dean Fearing and Stephan Pyles (both of eponymous restaurant fame, above-ish with Nancy Brussat, another conclavite from Convito Cafe & Market in Chicago) would each prepare three entrees - chicken, seafood and beef. A panel of three judges would pick the winner from each pair, which the airlines would add to its First and Business class menus for the fall. The massive granite work table at the center of the kitchen had the guys facing off over a hillock of ingredients, from habanero peppers to purple Peruvian potatoes. The chefs had 30 minutes to complete each dish, with tasting and judging between rounds. First up: the rubber-chicken entree. Photo: PR Newswire Photo Service. OK, the point was not to produce a rubber-chicken entrée. "We're doing chicken with coconut," said Stephan. "Chicken in coconut?" echoed Dean. "Oh, great minds think alike." They were both doing a chicken-and-coconut thing, but from completely different directions. For 30 minutes, the kitchen was a blur, with four cameramen jockeying for position as six chefs and assorted helpers whisked from cutting board to stovetop and back again. Dean started with a noisy whack-whack-whack on his lemongrass, while Stephan was cutting perfect, coin-size, electric-purple potato rounds. Thirty minutes of chopping, cutting, slicing, blending, tasting and whisking later, and they were done. Both plated their entrees: Dean's Chicken Coconut Bisque with Sizzling Rice and Stephan's Adobo-Glazed Roasted Chicken with Smoked Mozzarella-Peruvian Potato Salad and Coconut-Curry Sauce. Dean's went out the judges first, much to Stephan's chagrin. Only after Stephan had finished plating did the organizers tell him his dish would have to wait like 10 minutes while the judges tasted Dean's. Stephan exchanged a quick glance with Tim Byres, his SP executive chef. They would re-plate. The two deans of Southwestern cuisine did this through two more rounds (beef and seafood), and when the judging was done, can you guess who won? They were ties. All ties. Same scores from all three judges. (Don't these guys watch Dancing With the Stars?) Couldn't decide. The PR rep swears it wasn't rigged. She says Dean and Stephan will go back to the airline kitchens and concentrate on retooling all six to AA's scale. Both chefs have worked with the airlines on its food via the Chefs' Conclave for 20 years. Diane Teitelbaum, AA's wine consultant, was on hand to match the dishes with wine. Maybe the best dish with wine should have been the tie-breaker. Maybe we should bring back Wayne Newton and Marie Osmond. |
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Comments
Posted by Margie @ 6:52 PM Thu, Jun 26, 2008
Ties?!! How lame.
Posted by Jeremy Smith @ 9:40 AM Fri, Jun 27, 2008
They should have had Kent Rathbun of Abacus in the mix...he would have beaten Dean and Stephan I'm quite sure.
Posted by Mary @ 12:00 PM Fri, Jun 27, 2008
Why isnt AA spending its money a little more wiser? It repeatedly posts quarter losses, but yet manages to keep dumping money into outside interests? Promoting a culinary cook-off & 'AA Wine Consultant' when it cries over 'rising fuel costs'...sounds more like bad management.
Posted by Doug @ 2:11 PM Fri, Jun 27, 2008
Any First- or Business Class traveler would pay and additional $50 for the ticket to cover the cost of this, and enjoy such great food on their flight. I think they should offer a 'Dean Fearing' or 'Stephen Pyles Menu', instead of 'Chicken or Beef?" These guys, (along with Kent Rathbun) are phenomenal at putting together an entire meal.