This weekend, I had the opportunity to judge the Battle of the Chefs competition at the East Town Market.
The chefs included Nestor Garcia of Zarletti, Shane Valenti of Trinity Three Irish Pubs, Jarvis Williams of Carnevor and Michael Wolf of The Knick. The chefs were given $50 and 15 minutes to peruse the market for ingredients to use in their dishes, which also had to include the secret ingredients of duck, mango, tomato juice and scallops.
My job was to eat all four wonderful plates of food and rank them on a scale of 1 to 10 with three other judges, including Marc Bianchini of Osteria del Mondo, Cubanitas and Indulge.
Michael Wolf of The Knick took this week's competition with a well-rounded dish that was consistent across all four categories: presentation, taste, technique and originality.
Chef Wolf joins the winners of the previous three weeks of competition in the finals on Saturday, Sept. 6, at 10:30 a.m. at Cathedral Square Park. The competition will include Wolf and Peter Alioto (Mikey's), Joey Lisowski (Zim's) and Dominic Zumpano (Umami Moto).
For more information, visit http://easttown.com.
Amy L. Schubert is a 15-year veteran of the hospitality industry and has worked in every aspect of bar and restaurant operations. A graduate of Marquette University (B.A.-Writing Intensive English, 1997) and UW-Milwaukee (M.A.-Rhetoric, Composition, and Professional Writing, 2001), Amy still occasionally moonlights as a guest bartender and she mixes a mean martini.
The restaurant business seems to be in Amy’s blood, and she prides herself in researching and experimenting with culinary combinations and cooking techniques in her own kitchen as well as in friends’ restaurants. Both she and her husband, Scott, are avid cooks and “wine heads,” and love to entertain friends, family and neighbors as frequently as possible.
Amy and Scott live with their boys, Alex and Nick, in Bay View, where they are all very active in the community. Amy finds great pleasure in sharing her knowledge and passions for food and writing in her contributions to OnMilwaukee.com.
