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Home > Blogs > Taste: Dayton food and restaurants > Archives > 2009 > June > 29 > Entry
Chef from The Caroline wins first-ever MVRA Chef Quest Challenge
They had no idea what ingredients they’d be working with, they had only five minutes to organize those mystery ingredients, a scant 45 minutes to cook everything and arrange the main dish and sides on a plate, and oh yeah, they were working in a strange kitchen with brand new appliances they’d never before encountered.
Yet all three of the finalists in the Miami Valley Restaurant Association’s “Chef Quest Challenge” — held Saturday, June 27 at the Home Builders Association of Dayton’s Questival event at the Soraya Farms community — came up with creative, attractive and delicious dishes under the intense “Iron Chef”-like conditions.
After several minutes of closed-door deliberations by five judges (I was one of them), the winner was announced: Damian Bumgarner, chef for The Caroline in Troy, captured the first-ever Chef Quest championship for his Sauteed Tilapia Almondine: Oat-Encrusted Tilapia over Lentils with Plantain and Kale Salad.”
If you haven’t seen that dish on any restaurant menus lately, hey, we said the ingredients list was a challenge. And the chefs had to use some of each ingredient listed, which for the finals included tilapia, eggs, lentils, raisins, kale, plantains, Vidalia onions, rolled oats, almonds, orange juice, red peppers and lemons.
Second place honors went to l’Auberge’s executive chef Romy Jung, and Jay’s Restaurant executive chef Justin White captured third. The three finalists were the top three finishers in an “elimination round” held the previous week at the Questival.
Both weeks, members of the judging panel tasted the final dishes “blind” — we didn’t know the dish’s preparer. I was joined on the tasting panel by Graham Bailey and Barb Acker of Vectren, Lance Oakes from Design Homes and Development and Marty Coates, president of the Home Builders Association of Dayton. We thought about declaring a three-way tie so we could be served another free feast again a week later, but eventually came to consensus on the winner, in part because we liked his preparation of the fish best.
Bumgarner was humble in victory — no excessive celebration dance in the end zone or anything — and said he tries to focus his cooking on dishes that he would enjoy eating.
Can’t beat that approach — at least, not this year. But next year, the challengers will be sharpening their knives.
Permalink | Comments (6) | Post your comment | Categories: Local restaurant news
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By Scott
October 6, 2009 11:33 PM | Link to this
O.k Anon Can you even cook?
By nyc
July 1, 2009 12:00 PM | Link to this
this “contest”..has no crediblity …the judges have no culinary expertise to judge these dishes prepared by pros…it would be the same if they were the refs at a pro football game…
By food fan
June 30, 2009 10:42 PM | Link to this
Not a surprise that Damian accepted the honor humbly. He is a very talented chef who has not let it go to his head. He truly is a humble man.
By Hey Anon
June 29, 2009 3:03 PM | Link to this
You want to be impressed? Try the Caroline. It’s excellent.
By Stparisian
June 29, 2009 8:38 AM | Link to this
How about some congratulations for the winner and the participants?! And, not to mention any names but ~ a previous poster should check his/her spelling before blasting the article writer’s choice of words.
By Anon
June 29, 2009 7:04 AM | Link to this
Headline is deceiving. It’s a local chef winning a LOCAL competition. While great and everything, if it were a competition outside the Miami Valley it might be more deserving of the “local chef wins”. That’s like saying “local man buys house” …in the area. Your point? There isn’t even a mention of where the other contestants are from to make being “local” more impressive.