Lucrative deal aims to make the Head Chef's Table a Five-Person Entity

-Marina del Rey, CA
-Scouting Department Head Jim Dall's words about working up Galen-Ames to a Head Chef position for 2013 or 2014 shocked chefs, press and other attendees, but in fact a closeddoor meeting before the conference held with Vanderbilt, Dall, and scouters led to the jawdropping decision to attempt to expand the title of "Head Chef" to five FFers.

Vandy, Dall, and others clearly were not remembering the days of only six or seven years back when just expanding the table to accomodate two chefs was a source of overwhelming controversy.

Jim McAllister's "Head Sous-Chef" position made him a sort of de facto third Head Chef, and from this vantage point the logistics were relatively easy to work out when it was decided in 2010 that Jumpin Jimmy would become an official Head Chef in 2011, joining the Mason Duo.

But the relative ease of that transition was deceiving; now up to five Head Chefs may be in place by as early as FF 2013. Some suggested adding a sixth HC and eliminating the title of Head Sous-Chef entirely.

The rosterjuggling seems easy when you look at it one way. Make current HSC Lynn Avi a Head Chef, getting rid of the HSC designation altogether, and perhaps throw in Big Joe Pasik and Jan Stephan to complete the mix. Then you have all of the six highest rated and most prominent FF chefs all working at the elevated station.

The boondogglish aspects of the plan come into effect when you realize that Brianna Galen-Ames, who was on the 7th (lowest) line of power throughout her whole four-year FF career, would likely be nudged up to become Head Chef numero cuatro by the "Brianna's-vital-to-the-demographic"-spewing scouters. Combine her low NCA rating and her contract offer of $1,000,000 (which is simply to rejoin Feast Fest in 2012 before this new plan takes place; her contract to move up to HC may land her more than $1,500,000), and her standing just wouldn't make sense. And what Chef who might have gone in her place if not for her would get left out? Lynn Avi would certainly become HC #5, and the discriminatory Scouting Dept. would probably choose Jan Stephan over Joe Pasik (though Joe's NCA rating is slightly higher) because "he's younger and handsomer than Joe and will appear more to the young female demographic." (Note quotation marks, meaning that statement was actually spewed out for real, by Scouter Andy MacIntosh in June 2010.)

The Mason duo stated that they felt "okay" with the possibilities, noting that the setup with other top-tier chefs probably wouldn't be much different than it is now, but saying that adding Galen-Ames to the mix, who the Masons have only met several times in passing and whom they've never worked with directly on the Feast Fest floor, could bring confusion.

Again, greed is dominating the future setup possibilities for Feast Fest, giving us what I like to call the greed conundrum. It makes you want to hearken back to simpler, earlier times when there was no greed, but things weren't nearly as good as now. There were the Masons and Jim but no Joe or Lynn or Jan and no 10 million-plus television audience, and things weren't nearly as good because there was no greed. FF has been living the life of Riley because now there is greed.

Maybe if everyone gulps down a big slice of humility pie (pumpkin flavored, of course) we can figure a way to get the components of generosity and success to have an equal sign in between them.