-New York
-Ashton Moore, previously known simply as "Moore", has won his second consecutive NCA's Flashiest award and his third in four years.
Lynn Avi finished fourth in the voting. Moore, who was born "Ashton Moore", changed his name to his birth name in January.
"I am elated," Moore said in a brief statement.
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The NCA Feast Fest lives here
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Friday, October 19, 2012
Merrssff Snags GOH for 2nd Consecutive Year
-Marina del Rey, Ca.
-It was announced Friday that Lindbergh Merrssff, the retired 76-year-old Feast Fest fixture, will be receiving the FF 2012 Guest of Honorship for the second consecutive year. Merrssff was also picked in 2011.
"After three rounds of voting, our unanimously approved choice was to have Merrssff as our GOH again," remarked Executive Manager William Vanderbilt. "It is a title we are elated and ebullient to bestow upon him."
The aging Merrssff still travels to Feast Fest every year and remains a part of it in a tangent way as a kitchen inspector. Merrssff could not be reached upon the 7:30 p.m. PDT announcement Friday. His agent said that Merrssff lives three hours ahead of Feast Fest headquarters on Long Island and that he is "early to bed, early to rise."
The agent, however, said that Merrssff would be "ecstatic."
Merrssff will receive the Ceremonial Turkey cooked by the Mason Duo and Jim McAllister as the main perk of his GOHship.
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-It was announced Friday that Lindbergh Merrssff, the retired 76-year-old Feast Fest fixture, will be receiving the FF 2012 Guest of Honorship for the second consecutive year. Merrssff was also picked in 2011.
"After three rounds of voting, our unanimously approved choice was to have Merrssff as our GOH again," remarked Executive Manager William Vanderbilt. "It is a title we are elated and ebullient to bestow upon him."
The aging Merrssff still travels to Feast Fest every year and remains a part of it in a tangent way as a kitchen inspector. Merrssff could not be reached upon the 7:30 p.m. PDT announcement Friday. His agent said that Merrssff lives three hours ahead of Feast Fest headquarters on Long Island and that he is "early to bed, early to rise."
The agent, however, said that Merrssff would be "ecstatic."
Merrssff will receive the Ceremonial Turkey cooked by the Mason Duo and Jim McAllister as the main perk of his GOHship.
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Chu Blasts Dreim
Feast Fest chef Jon Chu blasted scandal-stricken FFer in a series of tweets Friday that some said went too far.
Chu tweeted: "Hope FF does not re-sign that absolute jerk @FeastFestDreim"; "absolute idiocy is the only thing that could lead to re-signing of that haughty, insufferable and condescending @FeastFestDreim"; "i [sic] must say i [sic] worked on the same line of power as @FeastFestDreim for five Feast Fests and hes [sic] the most incorrigible person its [sic] ever been my displeasure to work with"; and "@FeastFestDreim was right to resign he'll never embody the spirit we look for at Feast Fest, hes an all out jerk."
Attempts to reach Chu or Chu's agent were unsuccessful. FF Executive Assistant Arthur Ayeiy remarked, "While we want the chefs' honest opinions of Dreim to aid us in whether or not to have him rejoin our event, we believe Chu's insults crossed a line."
Nine chefs, including Chu, have condemned Dreim, while another nine have defended him.
"It's a mixed bag with Steve Dreim," said Chef Jack Mark, who is one of the few chefs with a neutral view of the fixture. "You love him or you hate him, that's why he's Steve Dreim. As one of the small number of chefs who views Dreim neutrally, I'll say none of Chu's or anyone else's remarks surprise me."
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Chu tweeted: "Hope FF does not re-sign that absolute jerk @FeastFestDreim"; "absolute idiocy is the only thing that could lead to re-signing of that haughty, insufferable and condescending @FeastFestDreim"; "i [sic] must say i [sic] worked on the same line of power as @FeastFestDreim for five Feast Fests and hes [sic] the most incorrigible person its [sic] ever been my displeasure to work with"; and "@FeastFestDreim was right to resign he'll never embody the spirit we look for at Feast Fest, hes an all out jerk."
Attempts to reach Chu or Chu's agent were unsuccessful. FF Executive Assistant Arthur Ayeiy remarked, "While we want the chefs' honest opinions of Dreim to aid us in whether or not to have him rejoin our event, we believe Chu's insults crossed a line."
Nine chefs, including Chu, have condemned Dreim, while another nine have defended him.
"It's a mixed bag with Steve Dreim," said Chef Jack Mark, who is one of the few chefs with a neutral view of the fixture. "You love him or you hate him, that's why he's Steve Dreim. As one of the small number of chefs who views Dreim neutrally, I'll say none of Chu's or anyone else's remarks surprise me."
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Ainenl and FF to Collaborate Again
-Marina del Rey, Ca.
-It has been confirmed that one of the many purposes of the 30-city, 11-day World Tour to be taken by William Vanderbilt, Jim Dall, and Arthur Ayeiy will be to meet with the Parisian master Claudien Ainenl in Paris and with his agent in Budapest, Hungary.
Ainenl and FF negotiated heavily in 2011 in hopes of signing him to a 2012 deal. However, while Ainenl and Feast Fest were on good terms, FF scouters struggled to move past Ainenl's agent, and talks sputtered to a trickle in February.
In August, Ainenl announced he had hired a new agent in hopes of bolstering discussions with Feast Fest. Ainenl and Dall web-chatted Sept. 23, but that's the only talk the two sides have had since the new agent came in, due to preoccupation with more pressing issues.
However, meetings with both Ainenl and his new agent, Rscuscka Mijoppa, are scheduled for Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, respectively. "We're finally going to get back to talks with this extraordinary chef, and we're very pleased about that," Dall said late in the day Friday.
Mijoppa released a statement saying, "I am looking forward to collaborating with the executives at Feast Fest in order to ensure my client can make a fair, proper, and prosperous deal with this event."
Ainenl and FF talked much in fall 2011 and winter 2011-12 in hopes of adding him to the 2012 Feast Fest squad. His old agent refused to accept contract offers below $900,000, even when the chef himself was willing to go lower in the numbers. "His own agent was actually restricting his own options," Mijoppa wrote, "and he did not like that at all. That is why he came to and hired me. I will make recommendations to Mr. Ainenl, but I will not stifle the negotiations unreasonably in the way that his old agent did."
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-It has been confirmed that one of the many purposes of the 30-city, 11-day World Tour to be taken by William Vanderbilt, Jim Dall, and Arthur Ayeiy will be to meet with the Parisian master Claudien Ainenl in Paris and with his agent in Budapest, Hungary.
Ainenl and FF negotiated heavily in 2011 in hopes of signing him to a 2012 deal. However, while Ainenl and Feast Fest were on good terms, FF scouters struggled to move past Ainenl's agent, and talks sputtered to a trickle in February.
In August, Ainenl announced he had hired a new agent in hopes of bolstering discussions with Feast Fest. Ainenl and Dall web-chatted Sept. 23, but that's the only talk the two sides have had since the new agent came in, due to preoccupation with more pressing issues.
However, meetings with both Ainenl and his new agent, Rscuscka Mijoppa, are scheduled for Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, respectively. "We're finally going to get back to talks with this extraordinary chef, and we're very pleased about that," Dall said late in the day Friday.
Mijoppa released a statement saying, "I am looking forward to collaborating with the executives at Feast Fest in order to ensure my client can make a fair, proper, and prosperous deal with this event."
Ainenl and FF talked much in fall 2011 and winter 2011-12 in hopes of adding him to the 2012 Feast Fest squad. His old agent refused to accept contract offers below $900,000, even when the chef himself was willing to go lower in the numbers. "His own agent was actually restricting his own options," Mijoppa wrote, "and he did not like that at all. That is why he came to and hired me. I will make recommendations to Mr. Ainenl, but I will not stifle the negotiations unreasonably in the way that his old agent did."
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Correction
An article showing the itinerary for Jim Dall, William Vanderbilt, and Arthur Ayeiy's eleven-day World Tour for scouting and contract negotiation and verification purposes incorrectly said that the threesome will be visiting Dallas, Phoenix, and San Francisco on Nov. 4. Rather, the threesome's itinerary for that day is Houston, Phoenix, and San Francisco.
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Dall, Vanderbilt, Ayeiy Announce 11-Day World Tour
-Marina del Rey, Ca.
-Head Scouter Jim Dall, Executive Manager William Vanderbilt, and Executive Assistant Arthur Ayeiy have announced an eleven-day World Tour to verify the contracts of returning Feast Fest chefs and to scout out potential grabs for the 2012-13 offseason, which begins in December. The threesome is also scheduled to visit Punta Gorda, Fla., on Sun., Oct. 28, for the final pre-Feast Fest exhibition at Edelyn Cooking Arena.
The tour itinerary was announced as thus:
October 25 - Los Angeles, Honolulu - REDEYE FLIGHT HNL-NRT
October 26 - Tokyo, Osaka, Nagano, Manila - REDEYE FLIGHT MNL-YVR
October 27 - Vancouver, Denver
October 28 - Dallas, Punta Gorda, Fla.
October 29 - Washington, Philadelphia, Chicago
October 30 - Toronto, Montréal, Boston - REDEYE FLIGHT BOS-LHR
October 31 - London, Paris
November 1 - Rome, Munich, Budapest - REDEYE FLIGHT BUD-OSL
November 2 - Oslo, Reykjavík, Tampa
November 3 - Freeport, Bah., San Juan, P.R., Cancún, México City - REDEYE FLIGHT MEX-DFW
November 4 - Dallas, Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles
The tour will see the threesome visiting 30 cities in 11 days, and will have to resort to the use of red-eye flights five times.
The tour was originally scheduled to visit the 30 cities over 14 days, but official Feast Fest business that requires Dall, Vanderbilt, and Ayeiy to be home in Los Angeles by Mon., Nov. 5 caused the trip to be condensed to 11 days.
A similar trip involving the threesome in October 2010 saw Vanderbilt, Dall, and Ayeiy visiting 27 cities in 12 days.
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-Head Scouter Jim Dall, Executive Manager William Vanderbilt, and Executive Assistant Arthur Ayeiy have announced an eleven-day World Tour to verify the contracts of returning Feast Fest chefs and to scout out potential grabs for the 2012-13 offseason, which begins in December. The threesome is also scheduled to visit Punta Gorda, Fla., on Sun., Oct. 28, for the final pre-Feast Fest exhibition at Edelyn Cooking Arena.
The tour itinerary was announced as thus:
October 25 - Los Angeles, Honolulu - REDEYE FLIGHT HNL-NRT
October 26 - Tokyo, Osaka, Nagano, Manila - REDEYE FLIGHT MNL-YVR
October 27 - Vancouver, Denver
October 28 - Dallas, Punta Gorda, Fla.
October 29 - Washington, Philadelphia, Chicago
October 30 - Toronto, Montréal, Boston - REDEYE FLIGHT BOS-LHR
October 31 - London, Paris
November 1 - Rome, Munich, Budapest - REDEYE FLIGHT BUD-OSL
November 2 - Oslo, Reykjavík, Tampa
November 3 - Freeport, Bah., San Juan, P.R., Cancún, México City - REDEYE FLIGHT MEX-DFW
November 4 - Dallas, Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles
The tour will see the threesome visiting 30 cities in 11 days, and will have to resort to the use of red-eye flights five times.
The tour was originally scheduled to visit the 30 cities over 14 days, but official Feast Fest business that requires Dall, Vanderbilt, and Ayeiy to be home in Los Angeles by Mon., Nov. 5 caused the trip to be condensed to 11 days.
A similar trip involving the threesome in October 2010 saw Vanderbilt, Dall, and Ayeiy visiting 27 cities in 12 days.
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Talks with Dreim Accomplish Little
-Marina del Rey, Ca.
-Feast Fest fixture Stephen Dreim is still at odds with Feast Fest after four hours of talks.
-Feast Fest fixture Stephen Dreim is still at odds with Feast Fest after four hours of talks.
Dreim was cleared of any involvement in a bribery scandal Thursday, but Dreim, infuriated with the tarnishings of his name during an independent investigation, resigned mere hours before he was declared innocent and the investigation concluded.
FF was able to coax a defiant Dreim back into talks Friday morning, but the former third-line-of-power chef remained stiff. "I will not return to this event unless I receive a formal apology and compensation for the emotionally scarring road this event has put me through this week," Dreim announced. Dreim is requesting a formal apology and $1,500 compensation, and that's before he's even willing to launch into talks.
The matter didn't get far Friday as some Feast Fest chef came forward and advised the event to let go of Dreim, complaining of "self-centeredness" and "haughtiness" on the part of the chef, two qualities deeply frowned upon in FF chefs. One chef even compared Dreim to the notoriously conceited Ashton Moore.
Others, however, stood up for Dreim. "Dreim is a great addition to Feast Fest, and I fail to understand those who call him selfish and haughty," Co-Head Chef Jim McAllister Chef. In addition, Co-Assistant Head Sous Chef Joe Pasik spoke up in favor of the fellow Brayton Hill alumnus.
A tally taken around 2 p.m. Friday showed that nine chefs had come to FF execs in support of Dreim and that eight had condemned him.
"This is something we need to look into further," said a Feast Fest executive who refused to provide her bame because she claimed to be unauthorized to speak on the issue. If Steve Dreim, she remarked, "is viewed negatively to the point where bringing him back would stir an uneasy or volatile atmosphere among chefs, or if he is viewed negatively to the point where chefs breathed a sigh of relief when he resigned...we don't want to put them in [that] sort of position."
Talks will break over the weekend.
For the time being, Dreim has been scratched from the chef list for Monday's Windows on the Water Exhibition because he was not re-signed to Feast Fest today as had been predicted.
"We're in not as good a place with talks with Dreim as we wish we were," said Feast Fest Executive Assistant Arthur Ayeiy. "Say we're driving up the California coast, we thought we'd be in San Francisco by now and we're only in, say, Santa Barbara. Dreim's defiance and stubbornness has been a setback for us in these negotiations."
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WiFF: The Week in Feast Fest: Friday, October 19, 2012 - Thursday, October 25, 2012
Friday, 10/19 - General Executive Convention
Saturday, 10/20 - No unique activities scheduled
Sunday, 10/21 - Okoworths, Alakishi at California Asia Cuisine Festival - FF chefs Ai Okoworth, Lisa Choi and Kiromi Alakishi and former FF chef Mei Okoworth to appear at the annual event in Richmond, Ca.
Monday, 10/22 - EXHIBITION! The second-to-last exhibition, at Windows on the Water, Morro Bay, CA
Fall Meeting & Conference Week Begins - Executives/Scouters Only as Chefs will be in Morro Bay for exhibition
Tuesday, 10/23 - No unique activities scheduled.
Wednesday, 10/24 - Scouters' Wednesday - The official Scouting Report for the 2011-2012 offseason is released.
Thursday, 10/25 - Managerial Thursday - The official Managerial Report for the 2011-2012 offseason is released.
Monday, 10/22 - Friday, 10/26 - Feast Fest Fall Meeting & Conference
Birthdays!
10/22 - Ai Okoworth
10/25 - Lindbergh Merrssff (fmr. chef)
Next WiFF - Friday, October 26, 2012 - Thursday, November 1, 2012
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Saturday, 10/20 - No unique activities scheduled
Sunday, 10/21 - Okoworths, Alakishi at California Asia Cuisine Festival - FF chefs Ai Okoworth, Lisa Choi and Kiromi Alakishi and former FF chef Mei Okoworth to appear at the annual event in Richmond, Ca.
Monday, 10/22 - EXHIBITION! The second-to-last exhibition, at Windows on the Water, Morro Bay, CA
Fall Meeting & Conference Week Begins - Executives/Scouters Only as Chefs will be in Morro Bay for exhibition
Tuesday, 10/23 - No unique activities scheduled.
Wednesday, 10/24 - Scouters' Wednesday - The official Scouting Report for the 2011-2012 offseason is released.
Thursday, 10/25 - Managerial Thursday - The official Managerial Report for the 2011-2012 offseason is released.
Monday, 10/22 - Friday, 10/26 - Feast Fest Fall Meeting & Conference
Birthdays!
10/22 - Ai Okoworth
10/25 - Lindbergh Merrssff (fmr. chef)
Next WiFF - Friday, October 26, 2012 - Thursday, November 1, 2012
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