Local chefs whip up competition in cook-off
On Sunday, Goldstein Auditorium will become Syracuse’s own version of Iron Chef America’s Kitchen Stadium.
That’s because the first ever Iron Fork Competition, a local cooking contest based on the Food Network show, will be heating up in the auditorium.
‘It’s kind of like Iron Chef but also isn’t. I took ideas from different places,’ said John Reule, a local chef and the president of the Syracuse Iron Fork Competition.
Twelve teams of three, all from Syracuse-area restaurants like Wise Guys Comedy Club, Turning Stone Resort and Casino, and the Camillus Country Club, will compete from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday in the Schine Student Center. Tickets are $10 for students and are available at the Schine Box Office.
Teams will cook a meal in 50 minutes using a locally produced secret ingredient. They will then present their meal to a panel of judges, including celebrity judge Anne Burrell. A chef featured on Iron Chef, Burrell has also appeared on many other Food Network shows, like Worst Cooks in America and Secrets of a Restaurant Chef.
Burrell, a Cazenovia, N.Y., resident, will host a book signing directly after the event and give a free lecture from 5 to 6 p.m. called ‘Studying and Cooking in Italy.’
Reule created the event to showcase the often-unrecognized talent of local chefs and to raise awareness about locally grown food. After moving here from Minnesota, he found that the brilliant chefs in Syracuse didn’t get much attention.
‘I want to put Syracuse on the map,’ he said. ‘The chefs here are incredibly talented. I can’t wait to see what they do.’
The Iron Fork event will do more for the city than just promote local restaurants and ingredients, he said. Proceeds fromticket sales and leftover food will benefit the Rescue Mission. There will also be a silent auction to raise additional money for the charity, which serves roughly 600 meals a day to those in need.
Anita Geitleb, the corporate relations representative for the Rescue Mission, and Director of Organizational Advancement Carolyn Hendrickson both expressed the charity’s excitement about the event.
‘Food is such a big part of what we do,’ Hendrickson said. ‘Everything starts with a meal.’
Published on January 25, 2012 at 12:00 pm
Contact Anna: amhider@syr.edu
