Edelyn Exhibition About to Commence

-Punta Gorda, Fla.
-The latest Feast Fest exhibition ever will officially commence with the ringing of the official "Start" bell here at Edelyn Cooking Arena in Punta Gorda, Fla., at 9:00 p.m. EDT.

The exhibition, originally scheduled for 7:30 p.m. EDT, was delayed due to an injury incident wherein an NCA critic slipped and fell on the cooking surface around 6:00 p.m. EDT, causing a chain reaction which damaged several cooking stations, which needed to be hastily repaired or replaced.

"It was a freak accident," said NCA Head Al Green. Green said that the critic did not require medical attention and would continue to critique the event. The critic was not named and so could not be reached for comment.

"As we understand it, a critic of the NCA slipped and fell, at which point his foot spasmed and kicked a cooking station, damaging it, and causing that cooking station to fall over onto two other cooking stations, and mildly damaging a third."

The Feast Fest chefs, already without their full oomph due to the absence of critical chefs such as the Mason Duo and Lynn Avi, seemed disheartened and shaken up by the delay. "But we have to maintain our focus and not turn this into another 2011 Morro Bay," Head Chef Jim McAllister said, citing an incident at the 2011 Windows on the Water exhibition wherein a water main broke and flooded the cooking floor, delaying the exhibition for 24 hours. It ended at 12:30 a.m. on a Monday morning, having been scheduled to end around 11 p.m. Saturday night.

It is likely that the exhibition could see DigIn! coming as late as 12:30 a.m., and with a final score coming as late as 1:00 a.m.

"We will work harder than ever to make up the lost time," McAllister said.

Delaying the exhibition to Tuesday was briefly discussed, but then called off. "Many of the chefs are expected to be back at work at their restaurants as soon as possible, and we would not want to delay them further," Green said.

McAllister criticized the original placement of the event at 7:30 to begin with. "No reason to schedule these things so late."

FF Wire Service