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
The NCA Feast Fest lives here
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Cooking Bell Rings
-Morro Bay, Calif.
-We're cookin' in Morro.
The official cooking start bell rang at 5:12 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. The exhibition here at Windows on the Water, the final before the big dance on Thanksgiving Day, is expected to end around 9 p.m. With 61 of 67 chefs present, it is the highest-chef-attended exhibition of the year.
Lisa Choi got the style points going with some flame-y talents as she began to prepare her famous "pumpkins flambé."
89 turkey meals will be made, and, of those 89, only 16 will be consumed. The other 73 will be donated to local homeless shelters and soup kitchens.
FF Wire Service
-We're cookin' in Morro.
The official cooking start bell rang at 5:12 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. The exhibition here at Windows on the Water, the final before the big dance on Thanksgiving Day, is expected to end around 9 p.m. With 61 of 67 chefs present, it is the highest-chef-attended exhibition of the year.
Lisa Choi got the style points going with some flame-y talents as she began to prepare her famous "pumpkins flambé."
89 turkey meals will be made, and, of those 89, only 16 will be consumed. The other 73 will be donated to local homeless shelters and soup kitchens.
FF Wire Service
Minutes Away in Morro Bay
-Morro Bay, Calif.
-With 61 chefs present, the final exhibition before Feast Fest on Nov. 28 is mere minutes away. The Windows on the Water exhibition here in Morro Bay is slated to have the Official Cooking Start Bell ring at 5:10 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, with about 150 in attendance.
The chefs will look to rebound after a subpar 90.9 finish at Edelyn Cooking Arena in Punta Gorda, Fla., on Monday.
"It's very, VERY important for us to crank out a solid performance in the final exhibition of the year so that we can go into Feast Fest feeling good about ourselves. It would've been disastrous if that had been our final exhibition." Edelyn usually is the final exhibition of the year before Thanksgiving, but, for 2013
FF Wire Service
-With 61 chefs present, the final exhibition before Feast Fest on Nov. 28 is mere minutes away. The Windows on the Water exhibition here in Morro Bay is slated to have the Official Cooking Start Bell ring at 5:10 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, with about 150 in attendance.
The chefs will look to rebound after a subpar 90.9 finish at Edelyn Cooking Arena in Punta Gorda, Fla., on Monday.
"It's very, VERY important for us to crank out a solid performance in the final exhibition of the year so that we can go into Feast Fest feeling good about ourselves. It would've been disastrous if that had been our final exhibition." Edelyn usually is the final exhibition of the year before Thanksgiving, but, for 2013
FF Wire Service
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Melling Grabs Best European for 2nd Consecutive Year, Along With Ruscoso and A. Stephan
-New York
-It wasn't a total sweep like last year, but three Feast Fest chefs podiums in the top 5 for the NCA's 2013 "Best European" honor, and Alue-Charlote Ste-Germaine Melling won it all with 31% of the vote, down from 32% last year.
Tony Ruscoso had 4.4% of the vote at third place, and Andruw Stephan garnered 3.6% of the vote for fifth. Lynn Avi, who has placed in the top 5 for Best European for the past five years, was just denied a sixth straight podium, placing in sixth place with 3.4% of the vote.
"We may not have swept it like last year, but to have 3 of 5 feels amazing," Event Mgr. William Vanderbilt said.
Melling tweeted, "So proud to have won #NCABestEuropean yet AGAIN! Thanks to ALL who have supported me!"
November is the official month for the NCA to give out its annual awards. The NCA released the results of three awards yesterday, the first day of November, but no Feast Fest chefs podiumed in them.
Melling is also a contender for the NCA's "Best French" award, the results of which are scheduled to be released on Monday.
FF Wire Service
-It wasn't a total sweep like last year, but three Feast Fest chefs podiums in the top 5 for the NCA's 2013 "Best European" honor, and Alue-Charlote Ste-Germaine Melling won it all with 31% of the vote, down from 32% last year.
Tony Ruscoso had 4.4% of the vote at third place, and Andruw Stephan garnered 3.6% of the vote for fifth. Lynn Avi, who has placed in the top 5 for Best European for the past five years, was just denied a sixth straight podium, placing in sixth place with 3.4% of the vote.
"We may not have swept it like last year, but to have 3 of 5 feels amazing," Event Mgr. William Vanderbilt said.
Melling tweeted, "So proud to have won #NCABestEuropean yet AGAIN! Thanks to ALL who have supported me!"
November is the official month for the NCA to give out its annual awards. The NCA released the results of three awards yesterday, the first day of November, but no Feast Fest chefs podiumed in them.
Melling is also a contender for the NCA's "Best French" award, the results of which are scheduled to be released on Monday.
FF Wire Service
Arrivals Begin at Morro Bay
-Morro Bay, Calif.
-Feast Fest chefs have begun arriving in Morro Bay in preparation for tomorrow's final exhibition before Feast Fest, at Windows on the Water.
43 chefs arrived Saturday morning and afternoon through the nearby San Luis Obispo County Airport, being bussed to accommodations in Morro Bay. The tally of 43 adds on to 10 arrivals yesterday, for a total of 53 chefs out of FF's 67. More arrivals are expected later tonight and tomorrow morning. Feast Fest has many California-based chefs who have not yet arrived, apparently feeling safer at a late departure due to their proximity. One of these chefs was Co-Head Chef Jim McAllister. The Long Beach-based McAllister said he would be making the five-hour drive up early Sunday morning, not wanting to miss the Saturday night crowd at his restaurant. The exhibition Sunday is expected to begin around 5 p.m., with a small PrepFest scheduled for 3 p.m. McAllister said he would leave at 7 a.m., which should give him enough time to make it up to the Central Coast.
Another California based chef, Daniel Mettling, wasn't granting himself as much breathing room as McAllister. Mettling, based in Yosemite National Park, also about five hours away from Morro Bay, said he would drive through the night after ending evening service Saturday. Not that it's a tough drive--California State Route 41's eastern terminus is Yosemite, and its western terminus is in Morro Bay. "Just gotta get on 41 and stay there #FFWOTWExhibition," Mettling tweeted Saturday.
Of course, there are the matter of some chefs who won't make it at all. The Amsterdam-based Jawrodly Jurrjens said he wouldn't be able to make it to Morro Bay. Jurrjens said his mother was having heart surgery in nearby Utrecht on Monday morning. In addition, St. Louis-based Keith Wholehreh said he would be kept out of the WotW exhibition due to his wife giving birth on Thursday.
But the parent of another recent newborn WILL be making her way to WotW. After being unfairly lambasted by many for not showing up at Edelyn Cooking Arena in Punta Gorda, Fla. on Monday, having given birth to her third child only five days prior.
Avi said she had been medically cleared to travel to Morro Bay. She disembarked a chartered plane in San Luis Obispo around noon Saturday and was subsequently bussed to Morro Bay, about twenty miles to the northwest.
There is a wide variety of accommodations being used by chefs. Some are staying in beachside cottages in Morro Bay, others in more upscale hotels in nearby San Luis Obispo. One chef even booked a hotel in Paso Robles.
As many as eight chefs are staying at the large house of a Feast Fest benefactor, William Marbleton. Marbleton lives in Baywood-Los Osos, approximately five miles south of Morro Bay.
Feast Fest officials said tickets for Sunday's exhibition had been sold out as early as Friday night. 50 tickets were put on advance sale in June, and 136 others were put on sale Thursday.
FF Wire Service
-Feast Fest chefs have begun arriving in Morro Bay in preparation for tomorrow's final exhibition before Feast Fest, at Windows on the Water.
43 chefs arrived Saturday morning and afternoon through the nearby San Luis Obispo County Airport, being bussed to accommodations in Morro Bay. The tally of 43 adds on to 10 arrivals yesterday, for a total of 53 chefs out of FF's 67. More arrivals are expected later tonight and tomorrow morning. Feast Fest has many California-based chefs who have not yet arrived, apparently feeling safer at a late departure due to their proximity. One of these chefs was Co-Head Chef Jim McAllister. The Long Beach-based McAllister said he would be making the five-hour drive up early Sunday morning, not wanting to miss the Saturday night crowd at his restaurant. The exhibition Sunday is expected to begin around 5 p.m., with a small PrepFest scheduled for 3 p.m. McAllister said he would leave at 7 a.m., which should give him enough time to make it up to the Central Coast.
Another California based chef, Daniel Mettling, wasn't granting himself as much breathing room as McAllister. Mettling, based in Yosemite National Park, also about five hours away from Morro Bay, said he would drive through the night after ending evening service Saturday. Not that it's a tough drive--California State Route 41's eastern terminus is Yosemite, and its western terminus is in Morro Bay. "Just gotta get on 41 and stay there #FFWOTWExhibition," Mettling tweeted Saturday.
Of course, there are the matter of some chefs who won't make it at all. The Amsterdam-based Jawrodly Jurrjens said he wouldn't be able to make it to Morro Bay. Jurrjens said his mother was having heart surgery in nearby Utrecht on Monday morning. In addition, St. Louis-based Keith Wholehreh said he would be kept out of the WotW exhibition due to his wife giving birth on Thursday.
But the parent of another recent newborn WILL be making her way to WotW. After being unfairly lambasted by many for not showing up at Edelyn Cooking Arena in Punta Gorda, Fla. on Monday, having given birth to her third child only five days prior.
Avi said she had been medically cleared to travel to Morro Bay. She disembarked a chartered plane in San Luis Obispo around noon Saturday and was subsequently bussed to Morro Bay, about twenty miles to the northwest.
There is a wide variety of accommodations being used by chefs. Some are staying in beachside cottages in Morro Bay, others in more upscale hotels in nearby San Luis Obispo. One chef even booked a hotel in Paso Robles.
As many as eight chefs are staying at the large house of a Feast Fest benefactor, William Marbleton. Marbleton lives in Baywood-Los Osos, approximately five miles south of Morro Bay.
Feast Fest officials said tickets for Sunday's exhibition had been sold out as early as Friday night. 50 tickets were put on advance sale in June, and 136 others were put on sale Thursday.
FF Wire Service
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Tweets on Last Night's Edelyn Exhibition Reflect Chef Discontent
-Punta Gorda, Fla.
-Feast Fest chefs took to Twitter Tuesday to express their frustrations with a 90-minute-delayed, low scoring exhibition at Edelyn Cooking Arena here in Punta Gorda.
Lynn Avi answered catcalls about her not being present, which some believed may have contributed to the lowered score: "I feel it is the responsibility of a good mother to care for my newborn in these times. Will appear at #WotW," referring to the Windows on the Water exhibition in Morro Bay, Calif., on Sunday.
Jack Stillworth's reaction: "Delays held us hostage again at #FeastFest #Edelyn exhibition. Sorry to the great supporters in #SouthFla."
Jacqueline Pierce-Mulleone vented frustrations about burned pies: "WHO LEFT THE OVENS ON TOO LONG?!? #FeastFest #badexhibition #boneheadedness"
Patrick Kermell vocally criticized NCA President Al Green for not rescheduling the exhibition: "No exhibition should have #Digin! at 1 am. @A_Green_NCA, bad decision."
Jim McAllister responded in defense of Green: "@Patrick_Kermell: @A_Green_NCA made the right decision. I needed to get back to #NotesLBCA today. #misassignedblame"
And Wiley Anders said the chefs seemed slow: "We were tired and sluggish at #Edelyn exhibition."
And Laelech Crellas attempted to be the optimist: "Cheer up, guys! We still have #WotW :)"
But perhaps the tweet that best summed up the FFers' challenges Monday night came from Daniel Mettling: "Delays = lost focus = mistakes = bad score. Simple, really. #FeastFest #Edelyn #badexhibition"
FF Wire Service
-Feast Fest chefs took to Twitter Tuesday to express their frustrations with a 90-minute-delayed, low scoring exhibition at Edelyn Cooking Arena here in Punta Gorda.
Lynn Avi answered catcalls about her not being present, which some believed may have contributed to the lowered score: "I feel it is the responsibility of a good mother to care for my newborn in these times. Will appear at #WotW," referring to the Windows on the Water exhibition in Morro Bay, Calif., on Sunday.
Jack Stillworth's reaction: "Delays held us hostage again at #FeastFest #Edelyn exhibition. Sorry to the great supporters in #SouthFla."
Jacqueline Pierce-Mulleone vented frustrations about burned pies: "WHO LEFT THE OVENS ON TOO LONG?!? #FeastFest #badexhibition #boneheadedness"
Patrick Kermell vocally criticized NCA President Al Green for not rescheduling the exhibition: "No exhibition should have #Digin! at 1 am. @A_Green_NCA, bad decision."
Jim McAllister responded in defense of Green: "@Patrick_Kermell: @A_Green_NCA made the right decision. I needed to get back to #NotesLBCA today. #misassignedblame"
And Wiley Anders said the chefs seemed slow: "We were tired and sluggish at #Edelyn exhibition."
And Laelech Crellas attempted to be the optimist: "Cheer up, guys! We still have #WotW :)"
But perhaps the tweet that best summed up the FFers' challenges Monday night came from Daniel Mettling: "Delays = lost focus = mistakes = bad score. Simple, really. #FeastFest #Edelyn #badexhibition"
FF Wire Service
90.9 at Edelyn -- Delays Again Rattle Exhibition
-Punta Gorda, Fla.
-Feast Fest's worst October performance at Edelyn Cooking Arena in eight years came on the heels of an accident on the cooking floor that delayed the start of the official cooking portion to 8:53 p.m. and led to DigIn! at an even later-than-expected 1:12 a.m. and the final score announcement of 90.9 at 1:46 a.m.
It was the first time ever since Feast Fest began visiting Edelyn twice a year that their January performance outweighed their October or November effort; their visit here on Jan. 21 garnered a 92.1 mark.
The 90.9 figure is worse than only an 88.4 mark achieved here on Nov. 2, 2005.
"We did have trouble here tonight," Acting Head Chef Jim McAllister said. "However, unlike most years, this is not our final exhibition before Thanksgiving, so we do have a chance to remedy this." In years prior, the final exhibition of the season would be held at Edelyn. This year, there is still one exhibition remaining, in Morro Bay, Ca. And McAllister's comment was appropriate--while Edelyn errors are rare, the chefs have typically fumbled the second-to-last exhibition before the Big Day, for reasons not entirely known.
But then again, maybe the chefs shouldn't feel so good about going to Morro Bay for the last exhibition, as the cooking venue there has been nothing short of a house of horrors for them. They cook in the Central California coast town this Sunday, Nov. 3.
Jim McAllister led the initial effort with 10 NCA points and a quadruple flip in the opening moments, and wound up with a personal-best-in-exhibitions 65 NCA points.
But his charges lagged behind. The second point finisher, Keith Wholehreh, sagged onto the board with a mere 29 points. Joe Pasik finished with 26, Alizone Jahswheich with 24, Lisa Choi with 21, and Jan Stephan, Andruw Stephan, and Tony Ruscoso with 20, rounding out the leaderboard.
The individual scores for the turkey suffered, as the birds became dry during the two-hour delay before the 9 p.m. start. The turkeys garnered a mark of 91.1, their lowest ever at Edelyn. The highest individual food score was a measly 96.3, for mashed potatoes. The average individual food score was 92.5. The lowest mark was for a usually nonchalant and undemanding Feast Fest food--the pie, which was rated a crushing 81.1. Not that it was unexpected, however; of 12 pies made for the event, seven--more than half--burned.
"The pies were tended to as they are normally and were not left in the ovens for a long amount of time, so we are powerless to speculate at this point as to why they would have burned through," McAllister said.
Some pointed fingers at Lynn Avi, who ruled out coming to Punta Gorda after giving birth only several days ago. But this was one of Feast Fest's classic flops, an exhibition that was headed for disaster and that would never have had its course righted.
"The delay rattled us, no doubt. And we have to get over the fact that we let delays like this one rattle us," Jan Stephan said.
Jim McAllister was awarded the MVP easily in a 10-0 vote by critics, but, really, nobody wanted to take credit for this awful excuse for an exhibition.
"Our love affair with Edelyn ended tonight," McAllister said. "We have to go into Morro on Sunday and hope we can clean things up so that we don't have a bad score hanging over our heads before Thanksgiving."
FF Wire Service
-Feast Fest's worst October performance at Edelyn Cooking Arena in eight years came on the heels of an accident on the cooking floor that delayed the start of the official cooking portion to 8:53 p.m. and led to DigIn! at an even later-than-expected 1:12 a.m. and the final score announcement of 90.9 at 1:46 a.m.
It was the first time ever since Feast Fest began visiting Edelyn twice a year that their January performance outweighed their October or November effort; their visit here on Jan. 21 garnered a 92.1 mark.
The 90.9 figure is worse than only an 88.4 mark achieved here on Nov. 2, 2005.
"We did have trouble here tonight," Acting Head Chef Jim McAllister said. "However, unlike most years, this is not our final exhibition before Thanksgiving, so we do have a chance to remedy this." In years prior, the final exhibition of the season would be held at Edelyn. This year, there is still one exhibition remaining, in Morro Bay, Ca. And McAllister's comment was appropriate--while Edelyn errors are rare, the chefs have typically fumbled the second-to-last exhibition before the Big Day, for reasons not entirely known.
But then again, maybe the chefs shouldn't feel so good about going to Morro Bay for the last exhibition, as the cooking venue there has been nothing short of a house of horrors for them. They cook in the Central California coast town this Sunday, Nov. 3.
Jim McAllister led the initial effort with 10 NCA points and a quadruple flip in the opening moments, and wound up with a personal-best-in-exhibitions 65 NCA points.
But his charges lagged behind. The second point finisher, Keith Wholehreh, sagged onto the board with a mere 29 points. Joe Pasik finished with 26, Alizone Jahswheich with 24, Lisa Choi with 21, and Jan Stephan, Andruw Stephan, and Tony Ruscoso with 20, rounding out the leaderboard.
The individual scores for the turkey suffered, as the birds became dry during the two-hour delay before the 9 p.m. start. The turkeys garnered a mark of 91.1, their lowest ever at Edelyn. The highest individual food score was a measly 96.3, for mashed potatoes. The average individual food score was 92.5. The lowest mark was for a usually nonchalant and undemanding Feast Fest food--the pie, which was rated a crushing 81.1. Not that it was unexpected, however; of 12 pies made for the event, seven--more than half--burned.
"The pies were tended to as they are normally and were not left in the ovens for a long amount of time, so we are powerless to speculate at this point as to why they would have burned through," McAllister said.
Some pointed fingers at Lynn Avi, who ruled out coming to Punta Gorda after giving birth only several days ago. But this was one of Feast Fest's classic flops, an exhibition that was headed for disaster and that would never have had its course righted.
"The delay rattled us, no doubt. And we have to get over the fact that we let delays like this one rattle us," Jan Stephan said.
Jim McAllister was awarded the MVP easily in a 10-0 vote by critics, but, really, nobody wanted to take credit for this awful excuse for an exhibition.
"Our love affair with Edelyn ended tonight," McAllister said. "We have to go into Morro on Sunday and hope we can clean things up so that we don't have a bad score hanging over our heads before Thanksgiving."
FF Wire Service
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