Expert Commentator MIKE VILSHIRE
from Morro Bay, Calif.
-Don't believe the smiles on the faces of Feast Fest chefs in October 2012, when the 2013 exhibition schedule was released.
Their real train of thought? "Closing?! In MORRO?!?!?"
Morro Bay is a wonderful seaside village on the Central Coast of California, and Windows on the Water is a beautiful, award-winning culinary institution. Yet, it's hallowed halls have continually proved to be a house of horrors for Feast Fest chefs, who have scored below 95,0 there on five out of seven visits, including the disastrous trip in 2011, wherein a water main broke--twice--and led to the exhibition being delayed nearly 36 hours.
"I love coming to Morro Bay," Jan Stephan will tell you, "but WotW? We've never done well there."
It's puzzling. WotW has a large and well-equipped kitchen with a variety of innovative cooking technologies. While a bit more cramped than the expansive Edelyn Cooking Arena, it is the same size as the kitchen in Joe Pasik's bistro, Nø, and bigger than the tiny kitchen in Jim McAllister's Notes, both of which also regularly host Feast Fest exhibitions.
"We need to wipe out our negative mindset about WotW," Lynn Avi said Sunday. "We just have to come in and do our job." Avi seems to be the most ardent adherent to my theory: that a few bad times at Morro have led to the expectation that the chefs are ALWAYS in for a bad ride, which leads them to foul up and make mistakes. In 2010, 2011, and 2012, dry turkeys plagued the exhibitions and plummeted its score. This year, the moistness of the turkeys was "checked and re-checked" before the 5 p.m. start.
And a mechanical check confirmed that ALL cooking stations were in proper and working order, after complaints in 2008, 2009, and 2012 that they malfunctioned repeatedly.
So perhaps the concern surrounding WotW is just a bad case of culinary performance-based hypochondria?
One thing is certain: We're about to find out.
FF Wire Service
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