Tipping the balance
Bacon jam wins ORA Culinary Cook-Off for chef.
Chef Theron Jessop might’ve been a little late to his engagement on Thursday night, but he arrived with a little extra hardware he picked up at the 2021 Oklahoma Restaurant Association Culinary Cook-Off.
Jessop took home top honors of the event after grappling with chef Josh Valentine in a one-hour culinary standoff featuring pork, silkie chicken, squid and octopus.
The ORA’s annual Culinary Cook-Off took 2020 off due to the pandemic, and this year’s return was truncated but no less talent-rich. Jessop, who had finished second in the competition before, won a three-chef heat on Wednesday to advance to Thursday’s final.
To win, he took on former “Top Chef ” competitor Josh Valentine, who also won a three-chef heat on Wednesday to advance.
Jessop, formerly of The Artesian in Sulphur, launched The Wandering Pig food truck during the pandemic. After organizer Zena Dater handed him the trophy, Jessop said he had to head south to cater an event that night.
Valentine, who is the executive chef of the upcoming Ellison Hotel’s restaurant Milo, entered the competition in honor of his good friend Michael Paske. Paske was a perennial competitor in the ORA Culinary Cook-Off who passed away last summer.
Valentine and Jessop were flanked by local culinary students while completing their task of taking mystery ingredients and turning them into composed dishes.
Helping Jessop was Gabby McKinley, who was due to graduate from Oklahoma State Institute of Technology on Friday. McKinley and her mother are set to team on a new food truck of their own.
Fellow OSU-IT student Tony Cepeda assisted Valentine.
Once it was time for the final showdown, coordinating chef Eddie Hartwick unveiled a culinary horror show. A display fit for a feast in honor of The Addams Family or The Munsters included black silkie chickens who looked kin to the pterodactyl and grand octopi that looked like melted candles stolen from an ancient haunted pipe organ.
Alas, these two pork specialists whittled lovely dishes from the virtual crime scene for judges Robert Black, Kurt Fleischfresser and me. The final scores were tight, but Jessop’s bacon jam was the cherry on top that tipped the balance in his direction.
For his efforts, Jessop took $2,000 back to Sulphur while Valentine received $1,000.
Other participating chefs included Lucas Yeager, Bradford House; Zach Hutton, Scratch Kitchen and Cocktails Paseo;
Roxanne Fincke, Catering by PARTYSERVE; and Zack Walters, The Jones Assembly.
The annual convention also hosted the 2021 Cocktail Shakedown. The winner was Thomas Upshaw, McClintock Saloon and Chop House, and runner up was Marc Adrian Estuche, the Holloway Restaurant Group.
This was the seventh annual Oklahoma Restaurant Association Cocktail Shakedown. Upshaw won $1,000. Estuche took home a $500 cash prize.
Other competing bartenders included Garrett Blevins, Dallas Cowboys Bar and Grill at WinStar World Casino; April Carter, Pepperoni Grill; Garrett Ennis, Scratch Kitchen and Cocktails Paseo; Ryan Goodman, Rococo; Michael O’Hara, Milo at The Ellison Hotel. and Ivan Pena, The Manhattan.
Judges were Jeffrey Cole, WanderFolk Spirits; J Mays, Cafe 7 and The Hamilton; Leith Ezell, Traditions Spirits; and Jason Ewald, A Good Egg Dining Group.
Quick bites
One common topic of conversation at this year’s ORA convention was temporary closings. During the height of the pandemic last year, temporary closures were common thanks to outbreaks. This year, temporary closures are have become commonplace because of the ongoing staffing shortage.
If your favorite diner is closed at a time it normally isn’t, don’t assume it’s closed for good. Just Friday, Let’s Do Greek announced it was suspending restaurants operations to concentrate on its food truck business. The reason? Inability to find help running the restaurants.
The hard, unprecedented times continue. Keep that patience cap handy, you’re going to need it.