related items
Food fight! Amateur chefs vie for culinary glory at the...
CHECK OUT OUR SLIDESHOW OF THE INTERVIEW >
A November Wednesday afternoon. Downstairs inside Jimmy's No. 43, the subterranean beer bar on Seventh Street that's become home to some of the more intimate and non-profit cook-offs on the New York scene. On the invite list: Chili Takedown founder Matt Timms, rival Food Experiments hosts Nick Suarez and Theo Peck, and Guactacular gurus Lee Frank and Rachel Anderson, along with the joint's owner, Jimmy Carbone.
We've invited them to gather over a potluck lunch to discuss the state of the city's amateur culinary competitions. By the end of the interview, only four men will have made it, with only one dish to share.
"Eight years of doing this, I've had 13, maybe 14 'death in the families,'" Timms says humorously about the most common excuse given by absentee contestants. "Why do they die the day before my events? I used [the] death-in-the-family [excuse] once in high school for a paper, and it felt wrong then."
"There's always the chef that drops out on the day of, or whose brownies caught on fire," Suarez says of his and Peck's Experiments. It's no less true today. Frank and Anderson had to cancel (to their credit, they had a valid excuse: work commitments kept them at bay). And Timms' own dish, a "chocolate cookie attempt," never made it out of the oven. We're left with a single jar of Peck's turkey and pork belly rillettes topped with cranberry gelee and toasted pistachios. Despite giving up competition two years ago, Peck and his partner hadn't lost their edge. "Competiton was always inherent in what they did," Carbone says about the duo, as he eyes the rillettes on the table.
The former culinary students and once-frequent Takedown champions now win over sponsors and conquer new territory with their Food Experiments. In the course of an hour, they'd name-checked Vitamix, JetBlue and Aero Mexico, who've all provided the globe-trotting hosts with prizes on their recently completed national tour. Whole Foods supplies them with gift cards to cover ingredients, and Brooklyn Brewery will be bringing the Food Experiment to Europe next year.
"We'll be having an event in Sweden and in England," Peck reveals. And while they're still deciding between Manchester and Leeds to launch the first English Experiment, they've already mapped out the 14 cities on next year's national tour, including Chicago, Houston, and Austin. For them, the focus has shifted from New York.
"I think here in New York, it's slowing down a little bit," Peck notes. "But outside of New York, we're seeing that enthusiasm."
Of course, amateur cook-offs are nothing new in middle America, but the Takedowns and Food Experiments have found a way to revitalize and repackage them, making them more engaging and less restrictive for today's generation than when the Pilsbury Bake-off was at its whipped peak.
"Our events kind of play on that nostalgia," Peck explains, "and they start with people from the Midwest and South who moved to New York, and they brought with them this nostalgia for food competition. I think that's what bore that kind of event."
Timms has brought his show out of town as well, recently slinging bacon in New Orleans and Mexican avocados in Denver. But Timms remains loyal to the local scene.
"I think even if it does die down, I'm not going by the wayside. I just love throwing parties," he quips.
To casual observers, the Takedowns and Experiments, which are often held at the Bell House in Gowanus, may seem identical. Homegrown chefs bring their own dishes, attendees devour them, and winners are awarded by both judges and audiences. But a closer look reveals subtle differences in business models and judging philosophies.
Timms considers his events as much about his own pleasure as his audience's. He's more excited to discuss the fantasy art influences on his poster for this Saturday's Chili Takedown, for instance, than the series of cookbooks he's writing. And he speaks foremost of the personal connection he attempts to make with every entrant.
"I love the cast of characters who show up to these things," he says. "There's a woman who's going to be at the Chili Takedown who heads the Star Trek fan club in New York City. She says she's half Puerto Rican, she's half Vulcan. She never wins it, and it doesn't matter. She just wants to be a part of it."
There are judges, yes, but Timms considers them a "necessary evil" for events like these.
"That's why judges are so unimportant to me. I mean, we have them, and they're writers and whatnot and have this culinary experience. But in a food event, it's such a subjective thing. I'll never convince anyone of this, but it better be just a party, because you're comparing apples and oranges."
Peck disagrees, illuminating a fundamental divergence between the Takedowns and Experiments: educating the diner and feeding the soul, versus educating the chef and providing a sense of professional growth.
"We get these writers and these food experts [as judges] because we want our cooks to get this advice," Peck argues. "Each contestant presents his dish to the judge. That, for the chef, is a rewarding moment. We are actually champions of the chef. They're spending a ton of cash, they're putting on these outfits. It only makes sense we put in the effort for them."
Then again, Peck also confesses that "people really get off on talking to Andrew Knowlton or Melissa Clark or Amanda Hesser."
As for what's most likely to impress Knowlton, Clark and Hesser, that perfect sweet-salty textured "bite" is no longer a secret.
"Winning a cook-off is 50 percent logistics," Suarez explains. "Can you pull off the dish you're going to serve? Can you serve it to 300 people? Then it's technique. The rest is seasoning. If you can balance that, you can win a cook-off."
For Timms, the experience has a stronger emotional pull. "Nothing compares to the bite that a friend has made for you, that your mother has made for you, and [that] these people are making. [Whether it's] because they love you or because they want to impress you, that's a huge element."
Photos by Vicky Wasik
