-Marina del Rey, Calif.
-Head Scouter Jim Dall and Executive Assistant Arthur Ayeiy announced plans Sunday for a twelve-day scouting trip beginning Wednesday that will see the pair visiting twenty-five chefs in twenty-two cities, in some cases to resolve outlying contract extensions and to scout for some new talent for 2016, as well.
One of the primary goals of the trip will be a visit to Raleigh, N.C., in order to settle contract negotiations for Andruw Stephan, whose contract expired two weeks ago. Stephan will not be eligible for Feast Fest 2015 on Nov. 26 until the contract matter is settled.
Dall and Ayeiy will also be visiting the Vermont home of three-year FF chef Tony Ruscoso, who, like Stephan, is pending a contract extension in order to be able to participate come Thanksgiving.
FF Wire Service
The NCA Feast Fest lives here
Sunday, October 11, 2015
Saturday, October 3, 2015
Avi: "The Vets Have To Be Stepping Up and We Haven't Lately"
- Marina del Rey, Calif.
- Feast Fest Head Sous-Chef and nine-year veteran Lynn Avi said in an interview with Competitive Cooking Magazine that she believes that the domination of low-level rookie chefs recently points to a downturn among performance of chefs in Feast Fest's upper echelons.
It was leaked on Saturday that the upcoming October 8 issue of CCM will feature an interview with Avi, and a segment from that interview was also released.
It was not known what question Avi was answering in this excerpt:
"We have to be better. It's just that simple. We have to be better. The vets, myself and the Duo and Jimmy and the Stephans and Joe and Lisa, we've had some career-worst years here in 2013 and 2014, and not one of us has yet cradled an MVC in this current exhibitional season. We're just doing downright atrociously. The lower-level chefs have been shining and getting all of the big points, but it won't lead to a good collective effort unless there is undisputed and decisive leadership setting an example from the top. The vets have to be stepping up and we haven't lately. We haven't just been doing that lately. There comes a time when you sort of have to sit back and examine, you know, what good is the depth doing well if it doesn't contribute to an advanced product overall? There was a reason that [rookie Eric] NacGnissecorp won the MVC in 2013, there was a reason that [sophomore Ursula] Elfman won it in '14. We didn't step up and lead from the top. And if we let this continue then what's gonna happen is that some other new chef with the stars in his or her eyes is gonna get the MVC and more power to them, honestly, but all that will happen really from an organizational standpoint is that we'll end up with another failure to top 99 and the product that Feast Fest is is going to begin to stagnate a little bit here if we don't crank out a 99 or up score this Thanksgiving."
The excerpt is sure to generate some controversy, as it seemed that Avi was insinuating that the rise of prominent rookie and sophomore chefs, such as NacGnissecorp, Elfman, Adam McNeese, and Skarlett Uhaajhaiyjesen, in recent years, is somehow causal when it comes to a string of subpar overall NCA ratings in the last four years. Feast Fest peaked at 99.0 in 2011 and hasn't matched or exceeded that score since.
FF Wire Service
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Elfman Has 77, Mettling 74, McAllister 73, Uhaajhaiyjesen Drops to 61
- Marina del Rey, Calif.
- Second-year chef Ursula Elfman had the performance of a career during the Mock "Dress Rehearsal" Feast Fest on Tuesday, scoring 77 NCA points and leading a 71-chef pack. Elfman and other low-tier, newer chefs ruled the Dress Rehearsal, which is often a bellwether for how performances will go on Thanksgiving. For the past ten Feast Fests, all but nine chefs have had their Thursday NCA point total fall within 10 points of their Tuesday tally, meaning we probably can expect huge things from Elfman again over the next forty-eight hours.
Elfman's late surge in which she assembled 31 NCA points in the Dress Rehearsal's final hour combined with the tapered-off action of rookie Skarlett Uhaajhaiyjesen, who led with 42 points at the Rehearsal's midway point but only scraped together 19 in the final three and a half hours, sliding to 61, still an incredibly respectable number that the new hire was not expected to come close to.
Five-year chef Daniel Mettling came second in points scoring, at 74, and the first hierarchical chef to show up on the scoreboard was Jim McAllister, at 73. The Mason Duo had respective totals of 42 and 37 in a Rehearsal in which they saw low Times of Action due to juggling other commitments, but will obviously be devoting their full attention Thursday. Because the Dress Rehearsal does not receive an NCA score, chefs are freer to have low Times of Action, which can result in deductions during scored events such as the real Feast Fest Cooking Portion on Thursday.
The full top 20 placers:
*(H) denotes one of the seven hierarchical chefs.
ELFMAN - 77
METTLING - 74
MCALLISTER - 73
CHOI - 68
AVI - 67
STEPHAN - 67
LAW - 67
JURRJENS - 66
MATFLILIA - 65
PASIK - 63
OKOWORTH - 62
WHOLEHREH - 60
JAHSWHEICH - 59
YIIVITITIMAEV - 57
DUMAS - 57
BARTLETT - 55
MORIMOTA PATTON - 52
STEVENSON - 51
CRELLAS - 51
MONDE - 50
Other notables:
MCNEESE - 43
MASON - 42
OLSCHMEIRE - 40
MASON - 37
YMYKATERINA - 33
ROSS - 26
STILLWORTH - 21
CHU - 12
AIBER - 11
MOTHILY - 10
NacGNISSECORP - 7
PERSONN - 6
Alexei Aiber and Eric NacGnissecorp both spent most of their floor time conducting messenger roles to and from the Elevated Table, accounting for their low point totals. Fredrik Personn complained of complications at his kitchen station, as did 10-point Kevin Bough Mothily. Both stations were being examined for technical difficulties late Tuesday, and repairs will attempt to made on them before Thursday.
"The pilot light on my stove refused to work," Mothily said.
FF Wire Service
- Second-year chef Ursula Elfman had the performance of a career during the Mock "Dress Rehearsal" Feast Fest on Tuesday, scoring 77 NCA points and leading a 71-chef pack. Elfman and other low-tier, newer chefs ruled the Dress Rehearsal, which is often a bellwether for how performances will go on Thanksgiving. For the past ten Feast Fests, all but nine chefs have had their Thursday NCA point total fall within 10 points of their Tuesday tally, meaning we probably can expect huge things from Elfman again over the next forty-eight hours.
Elfman's late surge in which she assembled 31 NCA points in the Dress Rehearsal's final hour combined with the tapered-off action of rookie Skarlett Uhaajhaiyjesen, who led with 42 points at the Rehearsal's midway point but only scraped together 19 in the final three and a half hours, sliding to 61, still an incredibly respectable number that the new hire was not expected to come close to.
Five-year chef Daniel Mettling came second in points scoring, at 74, and the first hierarchical chef to show up on the scoreboard was Jim McAllister, at 73. The Mason Duo had respective totals of 42 and 37 in a Rehearsal in which they saw low Times of Action due to juggling other commitments, but will obviously be devoting their full attention Thursday. Because the Dress Rehearsal does not receive an NCA score, chefs are freer to have low Times of Action, which can result in deductions during scored events such as the real Feast Fest Cooking Portion on Thursday.
The full top 20 placers:
*(H) denotes one of the seven hierarchical chefs.
ELFMAN - 77
METTLING - 74
MCALLISTER - 73
CHOI - 68
AVI - 67
STEPHAN - 67
LAW - 67
JURRJENS - 66
MATFLILIA - 65
PASIK - 63
OKOWORTH - 62
WHOLEHREH - 60
JAHSWHEICH - 59
YIIVITITIMAEV - 57
DUMAS - 57
BARTLETT - 55
MORIMOTA PATTON - 52
STEVENSON - 51
CRELLAS - 51
MONDE - 50
Other notables:
MCNEESE - 43
MASON - 42
OLSCHMEIRE - 40
MASON - 37
YMYKATERINA - 33
ROSS - 26
STILLWORTH - 21
CHU - 12
AIBER - 11
MOTHILY - 10
NacGNISSECORP - 7
PERSONN - 6
Alexei Aiber and Eric NacGnissecorp both spent most of their floor time conducting messenger roles to and from the Elevated Table, accounting for their low point totals. Fredrik Personn complained of complications at his kitchen station, as did 10-point Kevin Bough Mothily. Both stations were being examined for technical difficulties late Tuesday, and repairs will attempt to made on them before Thursday.
"The pilot light on my stove refused to work," Mothily said.
FF Wire Service
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Elfman Tops in Dress Rehearsal Points -- Full List Pending
Continuing her breakout year with Feast Fest, sophomore chef Ursula Elfman led the pack in the nonscored Dress Rehearsal with 77 points.
Full list pending of point totals.
Full list pending of point totals.
Uhaajhaiyjesen Leads in Points Through 3 1/2 Hours
- Marina del Rey, Calif.
- Halfway through the Mock Dress Rehearsal Feast Fest, a new hire is being the most productive.
Skarlett Uhaajhaiyjesen had 42 NCA points through three and a half hours of the seven-hour Dress Rehearsal, earning them partly on the back of 7 2-point triple flips or higher, which adds 14 points to her count. Her regular point count is 25, with the 14 triple flip or higher points, 1 double flip point, 1 speed point, and 1 style point.
Second in points at the halfway mark was Jim McAllister, with 40.
And Adam McNeese seems fully recovered from his hamstring scare last week; on the floor, he's earned 39 points, tied for third with Jan Stephan.
FF Wire Service
- Halfway through the Mock Dress Rehearsal Feast Fest, a new hire is being the most productive.
Skarlett Uhaajhaiyjesen had 42 NCA points through three and a half hours of the seven-hour Dress Rehearsal, earning them partly on the back of 7 2-point triple flips or higher, which adds 14 points to her count. Her regular point count is 25, with the 14 triple flip or higher points, 1 double flip point, 1 speed point, and 1 style point.
Second in points at the halfway mark was Jim McAllister, with 40.
And Adam McNeese seems fully recovered from his hamstring scare last week; on the floor, he's earned 39 points, tied for third with Jan Stephan.
FF Wire Service
Cooking Portion Bell Rings At Mock "Dress Rehearsal" Feast Fest
- Marina del Rey, Calif.
- The cooking portion bell officially rang at 1:15 p.m. and the Mock "Dress Rehearsal" Feast Fest XX is officially underway, with all 71 chefs participating.
The Dress Rehearsal is an exact carbon copy of the actual Feast Fest, only moved an hour and fifteen minutes later and with an abbreviated PrepFest. The Mock "Dress Rehearsal" PrepFest began three hours prior to the start of the "Dress Rehearsal" Feast Fest; on Thursday, it will begin five hours prior to the Official Cooking Portion. The "Dress Rehearsal" Feast Fest's cooking portion runs from 1:15-8:15 p.m.; the actual Feast Fest will run from 12-7.
Adam McNeese, who pulled a hamstring during a Core Skills Runthrough last Thursday, is moving well around the floor and should be good to go for Thanksgiving. Just in case anything should go awry between now and Thursday, however, relief chef Johan Mavliscev, who has never seen the Feast Fest floor on Thanksgiving, is getting valuable time here in the Dress Rehearsal.
FF Wire Service
- The cooking portion bell officially rang at 1:15 p.m. and the Mock "Dress Rehearsal" Feast Fest XX is officially underway, with all 71 chefs participating.
The Dress Rehearsal is an exact carbon copy of the actual Feast Fest, only moved an hour and fifteen minutes later and with an abbreviated PrepFest. The Mock "Dress Rehearsal" PrepFest began three hours prior to the start of the "Dress Rehearsal" Feast Fest; on Thursday, it will begin five hours prior to the Official Cooking Portion. The "Dress Rehearsal" Feast Fest's cooking portion runs from 1:15-8:15 p.m.; the actual Feast Fest will run from 12-7.
Adam McNeese, who pulled a hamstring during a Core Skills Runthrough last Thursday, is moving well around the floor and should be good to go for Thanksgiving. Just in case anything should go awry between now and Thursday, however, relief chef Johan Mavliscev, who has never seen the Feast Fest floor on Thanksgiving, is getting valuable time here in the Dress Rehearsal.
FF Wire Service
Monday, November 24, 2014
Olschmeire, Yiivititimaev Picked by McAllister, Mason Duo, Avi As "Highest-Level Go-Tos" Among New Chefs
- Marina del Rey, Calif.
- Feast Fest's nine offseason additions on Monday afternoon participated in the New Chefs' Orientation session on the Feast Fest floor. Despite the title, it's not about orienting new chefs with Feast Fest--they've been practicing all week and some have appeared already in offseason exhibitions following their signing--as it is about orienting hierarchical chefs with the new hires and how they can be best used.
Co-Head Chefs Jim McAllister and the Mason Duo, and Head Sous-Chef Lynn Avi, the event's four most powerful chefs, identified Kevin Olschmeire and Ondrej Yiivitimaev as the "highest-level go-tos" out of the nine.
It essentially means that if a direct order is placed on a chef by one of the Big Four, they'll trust Olschmeire and Yiivitimaev the most to carry it out.
It's especially important for Lynn Avi, who as Head Sous Chef plays something of a messenger's role between the Elevated Table and the rest of the chef body.
"All nine are spectacular chefs and all will have chances to shine on Thursday," said Avi, "but from a tactical standpoint, when we need to call on something specifically to get something done, Kevin and Ondrej look like the most competent ones to be able to deliver on demands."
As for the seven other new hires, she said, "We'll let them get their feet wet this year, performing menial tasks as most first-year chefs do. This group is loaded with potential for the future, however. The new chef orientation is just our way of getting acquainted with the newbies so that we can know what they're most skilled at and so that we don't task them with something in an area in which they can't excel. That's really all it's about. We want the best chefs working on the areas of the dinner that they can perform the best in."
FF Wire Service
- Feast Fest's nine offseason additions on Monday afternoon participated in the New Chefs' Orientation session on the Feast Fest floor. Despite the title, it's not about orienting new chefs with Feast Fest--they've been practicing all week and some have appeared already in offseason exhibitions following their signing--as it is about orienting hierarchical chefs with the new hires and how they can be best used.
Co-Head Chefs Jim McAllister and the Mason Duo, and Head Sous-Chef Lynn Avi, the event's four most powerful chefs, identified Kevin Olschmeire and Ondrej Yiivitimaev as the "highest-level go-tos" out of the nine.
It essentially means that if a direct order is placed on a chef by one of the Big Four, they'll trust Olschmeire and Yiivitimaev the most to carry it out.
It's especially important for Lynn Avi, who as Head Sous Chef plays something of a messenger's role between the Elevated Table and the rest of the chef body.
"All nine are spectacular chefs and all will have chances to shine on Thursday," said Avi, "but from a tactical standpoint, when we need to call on something specifically to get something done, Kevin and Ondrej look like the most competent ones to be able to deliver on demands."
As for the seven other new hires, she said, "We'll let them get their feet wet this year, performing menial tasks as most first-year chefs do. This group is loaded with potential for the future, however. The new chef orientation is just our way of getting acquainted with the newbies so that we can know what they're most skilled at and so that we don't task them with something in an area in which they can't excel. That's really all it's about. We want the best chefs working on the areas of the dinner that they can perform the best in."
FF Wire Service
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