It is enough to make the head reel. Let me make sure I've got this straight:When Chefs Club Miami (a group of local chefs and industry folks who have been getting together for the past few years) does an event partnering with Whole Foods, it is an "unholy alliance," and participants like chefs Sean Brasel of Meat Market, Giancarla Bodoni of Escopazzo, and Cindy Hutson of Ortanique get snotty quotation-marked references to the "area's top chefs" and "culinary innovators," snide comments about them "swapping recipes for molten chocolate cakes and such," and grief for "teaming with a national market" that Lee Klein, restaurant critic for Miami New Times, says doesn't support local farmers.
When New Times does an "Iron Fork" competition - sponsored by ... no, really ... Whole Foods, it's worthy of touting, and all of a sudden, participants like .. no, it couldn't be ... Chefs Sean Brasel, Giancarla Bodoni, and Cindy Hudson [sic] are indeed top chefs - without any snark or quotation marks.
Since there's no other writer on Short Order that would have a need to be "incognito," I can only assume the author of that tweet is the same author that denounced the "unholy alliance" with Whole Foods. Going incognito is probably a good idea - then maybe you can avoid explaining to these chefs why you're crapping on them for doing the exact same thing that New Times is doing in an event that you are touting.
In any event, for those interested, the Chefs Club events at Whole Foods include the following:
Saturday, September 19
1:00pm - Cooking Demonstration with Chef Michael Jacobs of MediterAsia Catering & Consulting.
2:00pm - Meet the Chefs with Chefs Giancarla Bodoni (Escopazzo), Giorgio Rapiccavoli (The Anglers), and Sean Brasel (Meat Market).
3:30pm - Chef Demonstration with Chef Sean Bernal (Oceanaire Seafood Room).
5:00pm - Chef Demonstration (TBA).
Wednesday, September 23
7:00pm - 2nd Annual Culinary Clash with Chefs Cindy Hutson (Ortanique) and Clay Conley (Azul)
Saturday, September 26
1:00pm - Cooking Demonstration with Chef Joshua Wahler (5300 Chop House).
2:00pm - Meet the Chefs with Chefs Andrea Curto-Randazzo (Talula) and Dean Max and Paula da Silva (3030 Ocean).
3:30pm - Cooking Demonstration with Chef Gordon Maybury (Loews Miami Beach).
5:00pm - Chef Demonstration with Chef Alberto Cabrera (V&E Restaurants).
The New Times Iron Fork finals will be October 15, 2009 at the Bank of America Tower Sky Lobby, and tickets ($30) are available here.
Of course, if you've got a bone to pick with Whole Foods, you'll probably need to skip all of them.
Edited to add: in a subsequent tweet it was clarified that the Iron Fork event tonight in the Gables referred to above is not open to the public. Whoops!
Wow. Lee Klein just shines in the role of douchebag, doesnt he? I now disagree with 99.5% of everything he says.
ReplyDeleteIt gets even better. Executive Chef Adrienne Calvo of Chef Adrianne's Vineyard and Wine Bar - that bastion of gastronomic excellence in West Kendall, that home of the $40 salmon dish, and the influence for the $95 cookbook which apparently traces the steps in the creation of said "famous" Vineyard and Wine Bar - is an Iron Fork judge. Enough said.
ReplyDeletehttp://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/shortorder/2009/09/schooling_frod_on_hypocrisy.php
ReplyDeleteGee whiz frod, have you incurred the Wrath of Klein? Good to see you still haven't gone to the dark side, Mr.F. Keep up the good work. From everyone's favorite douchebag, the 'certain blogger' that LK doesn't have the cojones to name (I feel honored, and bored), Miami Danny. Semper Fi!
ReplyDelete