The 2014 Best Chef Competition to benefit Beverly Bootstraps was held Monday, March 3 at the Danversport Yacht Club where Chef Chris Tighe of Salt Kitchen and Rum Bar in Ipswich was named Best Chef 2014.
Four chefs from local restaurants competed in a timed cooking competition in front of 300 guests using ingredients from the Beverly Bootstraps food pantry to create their delectable masterpieces. Salt Kitchen and Rum Bar won the title after concocting ramen gnocchi, fish stick pancakes, and a potato and puffed rice fish stick with spicy pork rind crumb and Asian mushroom broth.
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Other competitors were Chef Patrick Shea from Barrel House Amercian Bar who cooked up a five bean chili, an over easy egg with confit and a Berkshire pork belly with kidney bean purée; Chef Jake DeSilva from Latitude 43 in Gloucester who made meatballs poached in oolong and chai tea wrapped in chicken skin and fried and served with a pickled onion/apple slaw, sweet potato blinis, and cassis gastrique; and Chef Anthony Marino from Marino’s Café who created a southwestern inspired chicken bruschetta made with canned chicken, corn, black beans and tomatoes and topped with a sunny side egg and a jalapeno infused hollandaise.
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The People’s Choice award was given to the audience’s favorites out of 15 participating “Taste of the North Shore” restaurants serving sample sizes of their specialty dishes to all in attendance. The People’s Choice Award in the Savory category went to DoubleTree Hilton Boston North Shore located in Danvers for their exquisite seared diver scallops with lobster and truffle butter cream sauce garnished with micro purple basil. The People’s Choice Award in the Sweet category went to Topsfield Bakeshop located in Topsfield for their scrumptious whoopie pies, macaroons, checkerboard cookies, profiteroles, and praline cupcakes.
The event was emceed by Karen Nascembeni, Director of Communications of the North Shore Music Theatre. Competition judges were Christopher DeStefano, 2013 Best Chef winner and chef at Christopher’s Table, Eliana Hussain, personal chef and instructor, and Paul Belski, General Manager of Sodexo, Endicott College’s dining and catering division. And the evening’s auctioneer, who was recently named the Business Person of the Year, was Don Kelley. Sponsors of the event were Northeast Regional Ambulance, Beverly Rotary Club, Beverly Bank, North Shore Bank, Seaboard Products, Zampell Companies/Wenham Museum, and Salem 5 Bank.
Proceeds benefited Beverly Bootstraps, which saw a 13% increase in the numbers of clients served in 2013 compared to 2012. Beverly Bootstraps provides critical resources to families and individuals so they may achieve self-sufficiency. They offer emergency and long-term assistance including: access to food, housing stability, adult and youth education, counseling and advocacy. For more information, go to www.beverlybootstraps.org.
