-Marina del Rey, Ca.
-For the first time ever, a Feast Fest chef has defected to another Thanksgiving culinary event.
It was leaked Saturday that Hillary Wilkin had signed a four-year contract to become the Head Chef of the New York City Thanksgiving Contest, an event similar to Feast Fest but on a smaller scale.
The 37-chef event had long tried to snag chefs from Marina del Rey, but FF scouters had been able to put a stopper in such deals. However, this deal was conducted back-room, and Wilkin, who requested an "opt-out" option when she signed a two-year extension in March, is now expected to enact that part of her contract.
"Now we know why she pressed so heavily for an opt-out option," Head Scouter Jim Dall said. Dall said that everybody in the Scouting Department was "shocked."
Wilkin had been signed to a staggered deal for Feast Fests 2013 and 2014, slated to earn $377,389 in 2013 and $383,468 in 2014, respectable amounts but low compared to the $392,396 she received in 2010 and the $391,302 earned in 2011. Dall explained that the lowered amounts were part of "breathing room" needed, using a similar amount of money to have to be spread out amongst a larger number of chefs. "This has happened before, and the salary figures always rebound. Ms. Wilkin did not need to take this stunning and betraying action because of a slight decrease." He cited that Zackary Livensworth and Jacqueline Pierce-Mulleone had had salary declines of upwards of $50,000 over their FF careers, "but did they panic and back out? No." However, the NYCTC is rumored to have offered Wilkin $450,000 per year (with exact figures pending). Livensworth earned $231,367 in 2008, dipped to $172,786 in 2011, but will make $247,478 this Thanksgiving. Similarly, Pierce-Mulleone made $505,050 in 2007, $432,477 in 2010, and skyrocketed back up to $600,706 in 2012. "Salaries fluctuate wildly, especially when you sign a large amount to chefs in one offseason, as we have here in 2013," Dall explained. "Ms. Wilkin panicked way too early."
But others say she had eyed the NYCTC long before her contract came up for renewal; she lives in Connecticut, obviously much closer to New York than to California, and applied for the NYCTC in 2007 before joining Feast Fest in 2008. "Ms. Wilkin did not mean to stiff Feast Fest. She always held the NYCTC closer to her heart," said analyst Mike Vilshire, "as is evidenced by her numerous attempts to join the NYCTC before she was ever courted by Feast Fest. The only difference here is that most chefs would use an event like the NYCTC as a stepping stone to get to Feast Fest, whereas Wilkin obviously was using Feast Fest as a stepping stone to get to the NYCTC."
Wilkin has yet to make an official statement, but was rumored to have said she was "thrilled to be joining the NYCTC" and that she was "thankful to Feast Fest for getting [her] here."
Wilkin's agent claimed that she had hoped to close the deal as early as January, but due to contractual disagreements she signed on to Feast Fest for 2013 in March "as a backup." "That's why she wanted the opt-out option, because she knew that the NYCTC still had her on speed dial," the agent, who asked not to be identified, explained. The NYCTC's previous Head Chef had resigned from the event after the 2012 edition due to "old age." The previous Head Chef is 71 years old.
The NYCTC has long been viewed as the closest competitor to Feast Fest, and the two events have collaborated together to mull over the institution of a competition format whereby chefs from each event would compete for the higher NCA score on Thanksgiving, an event that would alternate between New York and Marina del Rey from one year to the next.
"We have a spirit of collaboration and friendship with the NYCTC," said Event Mgr. William Vanderbilt, "and this should not be lost today in the news that Ms. Wilkin has chosen to move on to Head Cheffing that spectacular event. If anything, we should be thanking Ms. Wilkin for her impeccable service across five Feast Fests, and we should wish her nothing but the most unencumbered success in her new position." Vamderbilt remarked that Wilkin's status had not yet been elevated enough for her to be a Head Chef contender for Feast Fest, but that the smaller scale of the NYCTC made it "a perfect fit" for her. "Personally," Vanderbilt admitted, "I hope that she can advance the event to the point where it can be comparable with ours and where our two events can compete with each other in the future, in a true test of culinary talent."
Wilkin's agent said that that was one of her goals in becoming the chef of the NYCTC. "She wants to nudge the NYCTC to the level where it is a twin event with Feast Fest. She wants to come back to the Beachview. She doesn't want to sever all ties to this event, as it was very meaningful to her and shaped her career. After all," the agent pointed out, "without Feast Fest, Wilkin wouldn't have attained the honorable position which has just been bestowed upon her."
-For the first time ever, a Feast Fest chef has defected to another Thanksgiving culinary event.
It was leaked Saturday that Hillary Wilkin had signed a four-year contract to become the Head Chef of the New York City Thanksgiving Contest, an event similar to Feast Fest but on a smaller scale.
The 37-chef event had long tried to snag chefs from Marina del Rey, but FF scouters had been able to put a stopper in such deals. However, this deal was conducted back-room, and Wilkin, who requested an "opt-out" option when she signed a two-year extension in March, is now expected to enact that part of her contract.
"Now we know why she pressed so heavily for an opt-out option," Head Scouter Jim Dall said. Dall said that everybody in the Scouting Department was "shocked."
Wilkin had been signed to a staggered deal for Feast Fests 2013 and 2014, slated to earn $377,389 in 2013 and $383,468 in 2014, respectable amounts but low compared to the $392,396 she received in 2010 and the $391,302 earned in 2011. Dall explained that the lowered amounts were part of "breathing room" needed, using a similar amount of money to have to be spread out amongst a larger number of chefs. "This has happened before, and the salary figures always rebound. Ms. Wilkin did not need to take this stunning and betraying action because of a slight decrease." He cited that Zackary Livensworth and Jacqueline Pierce-Mulleone had had salary declines of upwards of $50,000 over their FF careers, "but did they panic and back out? No." However, the NYCTC is rumored to have offered Wilkin $450,000 per year (with exact figures pending). Livensworth earned $231,367 in 2008, dipped to $172,786 in 2011, but will make $247,478 this Thanksgiving. Similarly, Pierce-Mulleone made $505,050 in 2007, $432,477 in 2010, and skyrocketed back up to $600,706 in 2012. "Salaries fluctuate wildly, especially when you sign a large amount to chefs in one offseason, as we have here in 2013," Dall explained. "Ms. Wilkin panicked way too early."
But others say she had eyed the NYCTC long before her contract came up for renewal; she lives in Connecticut, obviously much closer to New York than to California, and applied for the NYCTC in 2007 before joining Feast Fest in 2008. "Ms. Wilkin did not mean to stiff Feast Fest. She always held the NYCTC closer to her heart," said analyst Mike Vilshire, "as is evidenced by her numerous attempts to join the NYCTC before she was ever courted by Feast Fest. The only difference here is that most chefs would use an event like the NYCTC as a stepping stone to get to Feast Fest, whereas Wilkin obviously was using Feast Fest as a stepping stone to get to the NYCTC."
Wilkin has yet to make an official statement, but was rumored to have said she was "thrilled to be joining the NYCTC" and that she was "thankful to Feast Fest for getting [her] here."
Wilkin's agent claimed that she had hoped to close the deal as early as January, but due to contractual disagreements she signed on to Feast Fest for 2013 in March "as a backup." "That's why she wanted the opt-out option, because she knew that the NYCTC still had her on speed dial," the agent, who asked not to be identified, explained. The NYCTC's previous Head Chef had resigned from the event after the 2012 edition due to "old age." The previous Head Chef is 71 years old.
The NYCTC has long been viewed as the closest competitor to Feast Fest, and the two events have collaborated together to mull over the institution of a competition format whereby chefs from each event would compete for the higher NCA score on Thanksgiving, an event that would alternate between New York and Marina del Rey from one year to the next.
"We have a spirit of collaboration and friendship with the NYCTC," said Event Mgr. William Vanderbilt, "and this should not be lost today in the news that Ms. Wilkin has chosen to move on to Head Cheffing that spectacular event. If anything, we should be thanking Ms. Wilkin for her impeccable service across five Feast Fests, and we should wish her nothing but the most unencumbered success in her new position." Vamderbilt remarked that Wilkin's status had not yet been elevated enough for her to be a Head Chef contender for Feast Fest, but that the smaller scale of the NYCTC made it "a perfect fit" for her. "Personally," Vanderbilt admitted, "I hope that she can advance the event to the point where it can be comparable with ours and where our two events can compete with each other in the future, in a true test of culinary talent."
Wilkin's agent said that that was one of her goals in becoming the chef of the NYCTC. "She wants to nudge the NYCTC to the level where it is a twin event with Feast Fest. She wants to come back to the Beachview. She doesn't want to sever all ties to this event, as it was very meaningful to her and shaped her career. After all," the agent pointed out, "without Feast Fest, Wilkin wouldn't have attained the honorable position which has just been bestowed upon her."
