Windows on the Water Exhibition Halted
-The recently inexhaustible 98.0-and-up streak for the individual turkey score could not have ended Saturday evening even if it had wanted to, as the second-to-last exhibitional Thanksgiving before the real big day was halted seven minutes into cooking at Windows on the Water in Morro Bay. A water main burst for an unknown reason, causing the kitchen to begin to flood. All chefs got out safely, and the water was eventually cleaned up, but there was no telling whether re-entry into the kitchen would be safe.
"We couldn't even look," commented Jim McAllister while explaining that he and the other chefs were heavily guarded from re-entry into the kitchen.
The 7:34 p.m. incident sent chefs and patrons scrambling, and the restaurant was closed to the public an hour later. Late in the night, around 10 p.m., there were talks of resuming the exhibition with some of the NCA critics still present, until it was realized that such an arrangement would put Dig In at approximately... 2:15 a.m.
Thus, the event was postponed at 10:45 Saturday night, with no word as to resumption or the when- and whereabouts of such.
"If they get everything [with the water main] fixed up all good and nice, they might call us up tomorrow and we'll shoot down here," said McAllister. "Problem is, some were planning to leave tomorrow, but Morro Bay has a contract with FF that they get to host an exhibition, and with our tight schedule, I don't think anybody will be leaving here until that happens."
Suddenly, the prospect of being shanghaied in the sleepy yet vibrant Central Coast harbor community becomes a little less appealing.
Al Green, head of the NCA, said late Saturday that all that could be said about when and where the exhibition would be resumed was "before the week is out." Many, hoping to be able to return home to their families on Sunday, moaned at the statement.
Likely the exhibition will be resumed Sunday afternoon or evening, or, failing that, on Monday.
After Morro Bay, the final exhibition before Feast Fest is on Tuesday, November 8, at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time at the Edelyn Cooking Arena in Punta Gorda, Florida.
The projected NCA score for the Morro Bay exhibition when the water main broke Saturday was a mediocre 73.4, but "that was only seven minutes out of about four or five hours," said McAllister. "We should definitely be able to make that up."
Feast Fest News: More FF Guests Brings Virtuous Cycle...For Now, At Least
-Los Angeles-LAX said today that they could have more domestic flights arriving at LAX on November 23 and 24 than any other date of the year, and, conversely, November 28 and 29 could have more domestic flights leaving LAX than any other date. Of course, Thanksgiving is always an extremely busy time for the airports, but what could be putting LAX over the top? Feast Fest.
Think about it, after all--most FF guests arrive and check in on November 24, a few on the 23rd, and November 28 is the last day of Feast Fest, and most everybody leaves on November 29.
"It's a good sign that Feast Fest is having a positive tourism impact that keeps growing," said Event organizer William Vanderbilt upon hearing the news.
Feast Fest packages include 20% of airfare costs, but only if the arriving flight is taken on the 23rd or 24th and if the departing flight is taken on the 28th or 29th.
"It's an enticing offer," said Vanderbilt. "We've had the offer for a number of years now, and we have a very small amount of guests who are in by Wednesday, out by Friday. Most stay the whole weekend."
And with the discounts on airfare and more luscious vacation time, many guests say it's a no-brainer.
Peter Voosk is an office manager from Minneapolis. He has attended Feast Fest ten years in a row, and always leaves on Tuesday and comes back Sunday. Voosk, a very committed worker, says the two days, Tuesday and Wednesday, before Thanksgiving are the only ones he takes off all year apart from his company-given vacation time.
"All my other workers will take 10, 15 days off throughout the year that the company doesn't give them off. I've only ever taken off Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and I will continue do."
Because when FF sets forth a package as hooking as it is, Voosk says, "it's worth it."
Increasing air traffic on Tuesday, Wednesday, Sunday, and Monday, may in a few years cause FF to extend their packages further, to leave on Monday and go back home on Monday or even Tuesday.
"If we can get people willing to take the whole Thanksgiving week off, it'll take the strain off LAX and its travelers by giving them an extra day to deal with the Feast Fest influx," Vanderbilt explained, "and it'll be an even sweeter deal for the guests. All of our packages are designed to increase guest influx, increase demand, increase profit, increase guest influx...it's a cycle that brings more and more guests to Feast Fest every year."
But, Vanderbilt warns that, "on the other hand, we can't get it too big, or FF will be compelled to move it to another venue. It's the problem with being both the manager of the event and the hotel it takes place in," he says.
"It makes me biased, I'm afraid."
Feast Fest News: Turkey plummets to 87.1 at Tokyo Exhibition
-TOKYO-After two days of waiting and watching, the news is in from halfway around the world. The reports are in from Tokyo on Thursday, and they're not good, some say dismal.
It wasn't all that bad in the end, but the chefs were lucky to escape with as good a rating as they did--that of 96.4.
"96 is a very, very good rating, and we should be happy, but we were aiming for so much more than that," said Jim McAllister.
The main blow? The exhibition had the chefs preparing a traditional Thanksgiving meal, and the turkey--the star of the dinner--got its lowest rating since 2002.
NCA critics gave the turkey an 87.1 rating, the lowest at any exhibition or the real event since the 2002 Feast Fest, when the bird garnered an 86.9 mark.
Fortunately, other foods add up to the average score, and other dinner components got some of their HIGHEST ratings ever--the stuffing earned 99.6, the cranberries 98.7, the pie, which was apple for the exhibition instead of the usual pumpkin, a solid 100.
It was only the second 100 for any Feast Fest food, the other being the 100 mark in 2008 for the giblet gravy, which helped that year's Fest achieve a 98.9 NCA approval rating.
The scoresheet was laid out as thus:
Turkey 87.1
Stuffing 99.6
Gravy 96.5
G'beans 96.9
C'berries 98.7
Rolls 93.2
M.P. 98.2
Peas 98.2
Pie 100
The blunder spread to other foods, too; rolls/biscuits received their lowest rating since 2005. The rolls and biscuits have consistently been the highest rated FF food.
The mash potatoes and peas split even at 98.2.
Several prime chefs--the Masons, Lynn Avi, Jan Stephan--were absent from the Tokyo exhibition, giving the showcase a little less zip. Jim McAllister was appointed head chef of the exhibition in place of the Masons; Joe Pasik played Head Sous-Chef, McAllister's real position in the event; and Lisa Choi and Andruw Stephan played Assistant Head Sous-Chefs in place of Avi and Pasik. 1,267 flocked to the exhibition. 90% of attendees were Japanese.
"I hope they enjoyed it, but I wish we could have given them just a little bit of a better show to see," said Pasik of the first ever Feast Fest exhibition outside North America. "Everyone in the audience got a little sample of the dinner. The NCA critics said the turkey was bone dry. I heard some people in the crowd saying the same thing in a sort of halting English. 'This is their traditional feast?' I heard one say."
Pasik was optimistic about the pie and stuffing, but remorseful about the turkey.
"We had it imported from the U.S. to Japan. I guess all that pressurized air on the plane dried it out. They didn't keep it moist. We were practically drowning this turkey and we couldn't get it moist at all," he explained.
"We could've done better."
The next exhibition will also be the last exhibition before Feast Fest--November 2nd, at Kitchen Stadium USA in New York.
"Higher hopes there, definitely," Pasik remarked.
Feast Fest News: 2010 Galen-Ames's Last Year
-10/16/10, 5:01 p.m.-LOS ANGELES
-Feast Fest concurred in Los Angeles Friday, and before leaving to fly back home to Illinois before returning to L.A. for Feast Fest in November, Fest Chef Brianna Galen-Ames, the event's youngest ever chef, held a press conference and made a surprising--some might say stunning--announcement.
Galen-Ames, 15, is entering her fourth year with Feast Fest after joining in 2007 at age 12. And this fourth Feast Fest, Galen-Ames said, will be her last.
"This decision is unbelievably hard to make, but 2010 will be my last Feast Fest," Galen-Ames declared in front of a small, exclusive, yet shocked crowd.
When pressed for an explanation, the 15 year old maven relented a little. "Well, say that this decision is 100%, I do not wish to. It is a probable decision but not 100% definite. My mother is moving to Europe in June and I will train in culinary schools there. The possibility of me being able to make it overseas to Feast Fest while committed to culinary school, however, is a small one. Therefore, I have decided to make this announcement to prepare everybody, but should I be able to return, I hope I will be welcomed back with open arms."
Galen-Ames's leave will leave yet another gaping hole for Feast Fest scouters to fill before 2011. They were hoping for a quiet offseason before 2011's Feast Fest after saying farewell to three chefs already this offseason. Keith Wholehreh, Alsace Jacquaraiene, and Guillaime Jacquetaine all left Feast Fest in summer of this year after only one year with the event
Her announcement, however, that she will not move to Europe until June has some FF enthusiasts stirring.
Event Manager William Vanderbilt stated, "There are about four or five Feast Fest preparatory exhibitions before the date she is slated to move. Whether or not she participates in those could give us some idea as to what her plan is for FF '11."
But, as Galen-Ames herself pointed out, that, is 13 months away. "This is a just-in-case announcement. I should know hopefully before the scouters close their deliberations next year whether or not I will want to return."
FF scouters had some salary disagreements with Galen-Ames over the summer, and some wondered if that helped to fuel her desire to leave, but she denied these claims. "If I must leave next year, I say here wholeheartedly that it will be very difficult for me."
