-Marina del Rey, Calif.
-Feast Fest 2013 was officially gaveled into session Monday evening with the official roll call, and all 68 chefs--one more than previously believed due to a processing error surrounding a new addition signed on the last day of the scouting offseason--made it, despite a few close calls.
Still, those close calls are expected to only fuel the debate over the much-maligned practice of a chef not being able to participate on Thanksgiving Day if they do not approach the podium within 45 seconds of their name being announced at the roll call.
D.A. Cook, the final chef to be announced in a list of all 68 chefs in a random, computerized order, raced into the Grand Ballroom, fresh out of a car ferrying him from LAX, making it at the last second to be registered in one of three close calls and four chefs whose registration was in dispute Monday night; all four chefs were eventually successfully registered.
Cook's name was announced as the final name on the list 1 hour and 53 seconds into the official Roll Call clock, in what was one of Feast Fest's longer roll calls due to several pauses for technical and clerical issues. The Roll Call is sometimes only twenty minutes long. Cook was not present in the Grand Ballroom, however, and fellow chefs, knowing he was expected to be late, moaned as they believed they would be one short. The forty-five seconds for Cook to approach the podium began ticking.
But Cook burst through the doors with ten seconds left, rushed toward the podium and successfully was registered before time fizzled out.
"Cutting it a bit close?" joked Dave Welterman, who presided over the Roll Call.
But Cook's was not the only close call. A tired Wallace Mornett went up to his hotel room after checking in Monday evening and fell asleep, barely making it to the podium in time. Chefs corroborated that they had seen Mornett earlier in the day. He was seen with only about fifteen seconds left, and successfully registered. "I went to my room and fell asleep, I just came down now [...] I heard everyone making a fuss, and I said, 'Oh, God, is that [for] me?', and it was!"
Patti Anriyyi had to be called in her hotel room to authenticate that she was present after a friend of hers approached the podium on her behalf, claiming she was feeling sick. Anriyyi was eventually registered.
Catcalls also came for the Rousswicks, Alan and Jane, as their names were called, due to the scandal involving scouter Peter Chilphingham, who has been fired. The Rousswicks will miss Core Skills Runthroughs tomorrow while they are interviewed about the matter.
FF Wire Service
-Feast Fest 2013 was officially gaveled into session Monday evening with the official roll call, and all 68 chefs--one more than previously believed due to a processing error surrounding a new addition signed on the last day of the scouting offseason--made it, despite a few close calls.
Still, those close calls are expected to only fuel the debate over the much-maligned practice of a chef not being able to participate on Thanksgiving Day if they do not approach the podium within 45 seconds of their name being announced at the roll call.
D.A. Cook, the final chef to be announced in a list of all 68 chefs in a random, computerized order, raced into the Grand Ballroom, fresh out of a car ferrying him from LAX, making it at the last second to be registered in one of three close calls and four chefs whose registration was in dispute Monday night; all four chefs were eventually successfully registered.
Cook's name was announced as the final name on the list 1 hour and 53 seconds into the official Roll Call clock, in what was one of Feast Fest's longer roll calls due to several pauses for technical and clerical issues. The Roll Call is sometimes only twenty minutes long. Cook was not present in the Grand Ballroom, however, and fellow chefs, knowing he was expected to be late, moaned as they believed they would be one short. The forty-five seconds for Cook to approach the podium began ticking.
But Cook burst through the doors with ten seconds left, rushed toward the podium and successfully was registered before time fizzled out.
"Cutting it a bit close?" joked Dave Welterman, who presided over the Roll Call.
But Cook's was not the only close call. A tired Wallace Mornett went up to his hotel room after checking in Monday evening and fell asleep, barely making it to the podium in time. Chefs corroborated that they had seen Mornett earlier in the day. He was seen with only about fifteen seconds left, and successfully registered. "I went to my room and fell asleep, I just came down now [...] I heard everyone making a fuss, and I said, 'Oh, God, is that [for] me?', and it was!"
Patti Anriyyi had to be called in her hotel room to authenticate that she was present after a friend of hers approached the podium on her behalf, claiming she was feeling sick. Anriyyi was eventually registered.
Catcalls also came for the Rousswicks, Alan and Jane, as their names were called, due to the scandal involving scouter Peter Chilphingham, who has been fired. The Rousswicks will miss Core Skills Runthroughs tomorrow while they are interviewed about the matter.
FF Wire Service
