Slice, Dice and Spice New York: An Interview and Upcoming Event
One morning, when I opened my email, there was an email from Pat Charland of the Finger Lakes Visitor's Connection in Canandaigua. Through various channels, virtual and real world, she had heard of Cooking with Ideas and wanted to connect over an exciting event coming up in Canandaigua: Slice, Dice and Spice NY. Eventually, we connected -- and here's what you need to know: it's coming, you can participate (including as part of a team; for information on that, click to email Michael Warren Thomas) and you can watch. Also, there is always more to learn as I have been learning from emails from people not mentioned below! So, if you know more -- or are involved and want to ensure we all know, comment away please! Here's all sorts of exciting information!
Bibliochef: When I heard about Slice, Dice and Spice NY, I was truly excited. (Then I was totally upset because I am away for most of it.) Can you describe what it is and when it will take place? And how readers can be part of it?
Pat: Slice,Dice and Spice NY is the first ever Pro-Am Chef competition here in the Finger Lakes. Professional chefs from restaurants in Ontario, Livingston and Wayne counties will be teamed with local “chef wanna-be" amateurs in a cook off competition, much like Iron Chef, using locally grown and produced Finger Lakes foods and wines. There will be nine teams competing, three teams a day (Monday 5/12, Tuesday 5/13, and Wed 5/14) and each day one team will move forward to the finals on Thursday, May 15th. Visit www.slicediceandspiceny.com
Bibliochef: Aha. I thought the event seemed to be a pro and amateur version of Top Chef! Where did the idea for Slice, Dice and
Spice NY originate?
Pat: Let me fill you in on some of the background. Slice Dice & Spice, NY is the brainchild of the organizations I mentioned: the tourism promotion agencies in Livingston, Ontario and Wayne counties as well as the New York Wine & Culinary Center and the Canandaigua Wine Trail. A team of representatives from each organization had the desire to collaborate in an effort to bring attention to and interest in the Finger Lakes Region through highlighting the common assets each shared. After an initial meeting, the group developed the idea for a culinary competition that would feature each locality’s agricultural, food manufacturing, culinary and wine strengths. The team wrote a grant to Explore NY outlining this idea and explaining how it would drive tourism and interest in the region. In the spring of 2007, the grant was approved and the team set-out to Slice, Dice & Spice, NY.
Spicing Things Up In the Finger Lakes: To move their plan into reality, the partners formed a committee of representatives from each locality that would meet monthly to develop and execute the competition, which was to be called Slice, Dice & Spice, NY. Each partner would own a particular portion of the planning and execution of the event, from sponsorship outreach to marketing the event, gathering team members, identifying the judges and hosting the overall event.
Over the last several months, Slice, Dice & Spice, NY has evolved into an exciting event that is sure to bring attention and excitement to the Finger Lakes Region and give the visitors one more reason to say “I Love New York.” Teams will be asked to create a meal using common, grown in New York, “Market Basket” ingredients plus one secret ingredient. All of these will be products of the region from local farmers and food producers. Wine pairings will be made from the Canandaigua Wine Trail encompassing several local wineries and under the guidance of the winemakers.
Bibliochef: The judges for Top Chef, of course, are often connected to sponsoring
organizations like Food and Wine. And there are also special guest judges. Is that how you chose your judges? Can you say something about each judge? And the criteria for judging?
Pat: One way to answer this would be to direct you to our website! On judges, click here and for our rules for judging, click here. But if you do not want to click and check Look Who’s Judgin’:
Jeff Christiano, Chef Instructor - Lead Judge for Slice, Dice and SpiceNY.com graduated in the top 10 in his class at the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. He has a long list of accomplishments and awards, including the title of Gold Medal Winner of the American Culinary Federation. During the past 10 years, Jeff’s focus has been on education. He is currently the Culinary Arts Director with the Rochester City School District at East High School, where he developed the Culinary Arts program and designed the restaurant. Chef Jeff’s commitment to education, the culinary arts and local farms is a great match with the Education Department of the New York Wine & Culinary Center.
Melody McGinley Whitelaw is the chef and owner of The Main Event by Melody and Kids’ Green Kitchen. She is a guest chef on WOR Radio 710 NYC. She is the Life Style and Chef/Food Reporter for Saturday Home Show with Jerry Leen. Chef Melody is a guest chef at Bloomingdales and Macy’s Herald Square in New York City. Chef Melody still finds time to teach children to cook healthy with her “Kids’ Green Kitchen” program and to write food and restaurant stories for newspapers, magazines and cookbooks.
Noah Sheetz, Executive Chef, NYS Governor’s Mansion is also a graduate of the Culinary Institute and formerly owner of his own bakery in the Hudson Valley. Chef Sheetz, has been at the Governor’s Mansion during the Pataki and current administrations. He travels to the region’s of New York State to select items that will complement his “Pride of New York” table and special events.
Lloyd Kinnear, of the NYS Beef Industry Council, owns and operates Rosecrest Farm on Cooley Road in Canandaigua with his wife, Melinda and two children Doyle and Madeline. Their diversified farming operation includes registered Polled Herefords and Angus beef cattle, registered Hampshire and Dorset sheep in addition to custom pork, poultry and farm fresh eggs. Lloyd, a graduate of the Cornell School of Agriculture and Life Sciences, is currently the Town of Canandaigua Supervisor and a member of the Ontario County Board of Supervisors. In his volunteer work, Lloyd represents the New York beef breed associations as a director on the New York Beef Industry Council. Other memberships include the New York Beef Producers Association and Rotary International. His culinary experience includes Rosecrest Catering which specializes in Beef, Pork and Chicken BBQ as well as past employment as a Sous Chef and Banquet Manager.
Peter Parts is Co-Founder and Chairman of the Finger Lakes International Wine Competition and has been instrumental in attracting esteemed judges from around the world to participate in this two-day event. This year the competition drew more than 2,300 wines from 14 countries, 44 states and 470 different wineries. The competition has been named among the 20 most influential wine competitions held across the country by American Gold Medal Wines. Best of all, proceeds from this event and a wine auction and dinner benefit Camp Good Days & Special Times, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for children and families all over the world, whose lives have been touched by cancer and other life-threatening.
Chef Lorenzo Bonii, Executive Chef – Barilla Americagrew up with a passion for Italian food in Bologna, Italy. While studying culinary arts, Lorenzo immersed himself in the regional cuisines of Italy. He then traveled to the United States, where he served as the Second Chef at the San Domenico Restaurant in New York City. After working in New York, he returned to Italy and opened his own restaurant, Osteria du Madon, in Bologna. In 1999, Lorenzo joined Barilla at their world headquarters in Parma. In 2003, he was promoted to Executive Chef for Barilla America, returning once again to the U.S. In his current role, Lorenzo is responsible for product and recipe development, as well as managing the culinary execution of all Barilla sponsored events. He resides in Evanston with his wife, Beata, his daughter, Valentina, and his dog, Daisy.
Howard VanBuren, III, NYS Dairy Council, is Senior Account Manager for Chr Hansen, Inc - a dairy ingredient supply company, covering the Northeast region of the US. Howard is a frequent Guest Speaker at NYS food protection meetings and has held Quality Assurance positions throughout the dairy industry. He is an active member of the NYS Cheese Manufacturers, and a popular teacher and speaker at many cultured product plants and at Cornell University Fermentation and Dairy Technology courses. Howard enjoys watercolor painting, golfing and spectator sports in particular a big fan of Buffalo Sabres hockey. Howard lives in Canandaigua, NY.
Robert Downey, III, Executive Chef, Pier House Restaurant, Ramada Geneva Lakefront in Geneva, NY served as chef for the preliminary Slice, Dice and Spice event. He holds an Associate Degree in Culinary Technology from Asheville Buncombe Technical Institute, Asheville, North Carolina. He held previous positions as Executive Chef at Iovinos Ristorante, Corvallis, Oregon and at the Black Diamond Golf Resort, Healy, Alaska. Chef Robert Downey lives in Canandaigua, NY.
Michael Warren Thomas, Radio Show host, WYSL – 1040 am, is a well recognized voice for food and wine and all things natural. For information on radio shows he hosts, including "Naturally Green" -- Rochester's only live call-in gardening show as well as his shows on food and wine, click here. He also organizes tours and is a frequent guest speaker on restaurants and wineries. Nearly 6,000 people have attended his classes and seminars. Michael’s works can be viewed at www.SavorLife.com. He lives in Rochester, NY.
Michael F. Bucher, is Deli Manager at Hartmann’s Old World Sausage. Bucher oversees day-to-day deli operations, handles all event catering, and creates daily lunch and dinner specials. He has owned and operated several local restaurants and has 32 years of experience in the food and beverage industry.
Marc Smith is the assistant director of the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, NY., a research facility of Cornell University. He holds a B.S. in agricultural economics from Cornell and a master's degree in economics from the University of New England. In 1981 he came home to help manage the family farm in Piffard, NY. He has served as York Town Supervisor and on the Livingston County Board of Supervisors. During his tenure as the state executive director for the USDA Farm Service Agency, Marc worked with all manner of agricultural agencies and organizations, from Federal to State to local levels.
Mark Makovec is the Executive Chef for Wegmans’ Cooking School. During the past 8 years with Wegmans, he’s helped develop their magazine MENU, including food styling, ads, and product shots, as well as held several Executive Chef positions, in Rochester and Canandaigua. Mark graduated first in his class at the New England Culinary Institute, and has been chef at several resorts, hotels, and restaurants in Chicago, Atlanta, and Florida, including Chicago’s illustrious Ritz Carlton. With many awards to his name, such as top honors at the Georgia Seafood Competition and the Florida Stone Crab Festival, Mark brings a fresh approach to the culinary bounty of the Finger Lakes.
Deb Whiting, of Finger Lakes Culinary Bounty is chef and co-owner of Red Newt Cellars Winery and Bistro in Hector, NY. The Bistro has been especially noted in its emphasis building relationships with local farms and producers and fostering the concept and practice of regional cuisine. As a long time board member and past chair of the Finger Lakes Culinary Bounty, an organization founded in 1999 to promote culinary relationships between farms and restaurants, Debra continues to not only foster these ideas, but to practice them daily in the Bistro.
These judges deemed to be experts in food, agriculture and wine, will vote each day on the most effective team. Voting criteria will include the teams’ ability to plan a creative menu highlighting the main elements of the meal, use of Market Basket ingredients and the surprise ingredient, and wine pairing. Successful teams will be those whose chef demonstrates and then delegates to his/her amateurs.
Bibliochef: Wow. What an impressive list. I know, too, that there are loads of pros involved as chefs in teh competition itself. And, I notice that Geneva is fairly well represented. . . . what other places are represented?
Pat: Invitations were mailed to restaurants and their chefs in the participating counties. Below is the list of chefs selected.
Ryan Abbey is the lead chef at Geneva On The Lake in Geneva. His formal education is from the Culinary School of the Rockies; the University of Wine, Avignon, France; and the Culinary Institute of America. He likes to eat pizza with everything on it and his favorite ingredients to cook with are cayenne pepper and Red Jacket Orchard apples.
Cory Collins, chef at Keenan’s at the Brookwoods Country Club cites L’Ecole de Cuisine as his training platform. His favorite dish is beef tips au poivre in a cognac sauce over penne pasta topped with fresh tomatoes. His favorite foods and spices to cook with are wines, pepper and Montreal seasonings.
Dominick Dardano, owner and chef at Casa de Pasta in Canandaigua, received formal training from the Culinary Institute of America but cites his mom’s kitchen as the location of his first cooking experience, standing on a chair. He’s worked in restaurants since he was 14. His favorite dish is penne pasta with Italian green beans simmered in tomato sauce and he likes to cook with garlic, Italian parsley and basil. H
Bryan “BG” Garrison, executive chef at the Brown Hound Bistro in Naples, worked in such restaurants as L’Etoile Restaurant (Martha’s Vineyard)., the Lodge at Woodcliff, Runds on the Ridge, and Ridgemont Country Club. He was trained at the Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena, Calif., and the Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, N.Y. He also learned to cook from members of his large Italian family, who made everything from scratch. He lists wine as his favorite ingredient to cook with and “hearty red wine” as his favorite food.
Ian McBride, chef at the Big Tree Inn in Geneseo, has more than 17 years experience in restaurants, hotels and country clubs. He attended the Community College of Alleghany County in Pittsburgh, PA and the Loews Hotels Culinary Training Programs. His favorite dish to eat is braised Kobe short ribs on lobster mashed potatoes. When cooking, he loves to experiment with dressings and marinades and is always searching for new barbeque flavors for his grill. Cajun and southwest flavors are also favorites.
Eric Mueller, chef at Warfield’s Restaurant and Bakery in Clifton Springs, is a certified sommelier from the Court of Master Sommeliers and a certified executive chef from the American Culinary Federation. He has also trained at the Culinary Institute of America. Local connections include the Lodge at Woodcliff, Max of Eastman Place and Max’s Chophouse, and The Inn on the Lake, Canandaigua. His favorite food is classic steak frite and his favorite foods and spice to cook with is coriander, especially in crusted fish with a cilantro-based sauce. He prefers to pair his dishes with Synchronicity wine from the Imagine Moore Winery.
Gretta Pagorek, executive chef at The Vines in Naples, was formally trained at the Atlantic Culinary Institute in Dover, N.H. A native of Naples, she began her cooking career “as a youngster”, selling fried dough at the Naples Grape Festival. She’s also worked at the Brown Hound Bistro. Her favorite dish is macaroni and cheese made with a mix of gruyere, mozzarella and cheddar cheeses with bread crumbs on top. Favorite ingredients include Canandaigua Spice curry blends, trout and venison.
Brian Simmons, owner and chef at the Yard of Ale in Piffard started his cooking career at the State Street Station in Nunda under the tutelage of Chef Tom Borden. He graduated from Morrisville State College (SUNY) with a degree in culinary arts and restaurant management. His favorite dishes are rack of lamb and sashimi and he likes to cook with fresh fish and chiles.
Tim Stephens, executive chef at The Pultneyville Grill in Pultneyville, has cooked in more than a half a dozen restaurants. Chef Stephens has also worked as a private chef for the priests at McQuaid Jesuit High School. His favorite foods are grilled meat and fish and he likes to cook with beef tenderloin, scallops, cilantro, tarragon and basil.
Bibliochef: An impressive list of chefs (I confess that I wish there were more women!). I saw on the Slice Dice and Spice website that there are a whole array of amateur teams too. How did they get chosen?
Pat: Teams are formed by event organizers and feature community members, media representatives and local dignitaries. Each day there will be a Participating “county team”, a media team and a team of either wildcard entries and or local dignitaries. Contests on local media, and on the Slice, Dice & Spice website have been held for winners to be selected to compete.
Bibliochef: As a side note I should say that one way to be selected for a Wild Card Team is occurring at the Rochester Farmers Market on May 10. The information is available by emailing Michael@SavorLife.com. As I understand it from what you have already said. there will be a featured ingredient and/or a secret ingredient in the various challenges. Who chooses these ingredients? Are there any general characteristics of them?
Pat: The secret ingredient will be determined each day by the Executive Chef (not competing) at the New York Wine and Culinary Center and will be selected from the Market Basket. [For more on teh Market Basket, click here.] While all teams will see a complete listing of all market basket items, they will not know the specific contents until the day that they are competing.
Bibliochef: Can you tell us what proportion of the available foodstuffs will in fact be from upstate NY? And can you tell us what it took to organize this for a May event?
Pat: The Market Basket will consist of locally grown or produced products from these participating sponsors: Barilla America, New York State Beef Council, American Dairy Association, Hartmann’s Old World Sausage, Nunda Mustard, Honeyhill Farm, Naples Valley Brand Products, Bejo Seeds, Red Jacket Orchards, Arbor Hill, Birkett Mills buckwheat products and others. Bejo Seeds is working with local greenhouses to provide fresh produce for the competition. Additionally, we will make some “fresh” substitutes from other areas to represent products that are native to New York, but that mature in later seasons. No products will be represented that are not ultimately grown or manufactured here.
Bibliochef: I know there was an art contest that featured students designing aprons.
Can you tell us more about that and who will be wearing the aprons?
Pat: Art classes in the schools in the participating counties (Ontario, Livingston and Wayne) were asked to submit designs to be worn on aprons by the individual teams competing in Slice, Dice, and Spice. There were five schools that participated (Mt. Morris, Livonia, Naples, Pal-Mac, and Canandaigua) submitting over 50 designs. Nine winning designs were chosen (a design for each of the nine competing teams) and the grand prize winner was awarded a check for $250. Each of the nine winning students received their art work matted and their design printed on an apron. The grand prize winning design was done by Onagh MacKenzie of Naples Central School. All designs are posted on the website. [For all of them click here and for the winner click here!]
Bibliochef: The Slice, Dice and Spice NY Competition is taking place in Canandaigua and loads of the work -- including the background you are providing us here -- is being done by the Finger Lakes Visitors Connection. Can you tell us about the Center?
Pat: The Visitors Connection is the official tourism promotion agency for Ontario County. Finger Lakes Visitors Connection is the lead partner in the Slice, Dice, Spice program. Founded in 1984, Finger Lakes Visitors Connection’s mission is to create visitorship and economic vitality by marketing and developing the assets of Ontario County as a premier leisure and meetings destination.
Bibliochef: Finally, on the competition: Any predictions of what will happen?
Pat: Slice, Dice & Spice, NY represents a unique approach towards gaining attention and interest in a tourism destination and to highlight the agricultural and culinary assets of the region. It also offers evidence that collaboration among industry executives can make for an exciting initiative that has multiple benefits for the growth and exposure of a region. When all is said and done, one can be confident that Slice, Dice & Spice, NY will be discussed among tourism and culinary marketers as one of the most successful culinary tourism marketing initiatives of the decade, capitalizing on a growing trend.
Bibliochef: And now for some of the questions I ask all of the people I “speak” with! I know you want to answer as a “team” here at the Visitor’s Connection in Canandaigua. So, to start: What’s the absolutely best meal you have ever had? What made it the best
meal?
The Team: This really depends on the mood, the atmosphere, but in general, any meal that incorporates local products, wines and a creative culinary touch are at the top on the list.
Bibliochef: What music, films, books related to food and/or wine would you
recommend? Why? (These could be about scholarly or otherwise!)
The Team: For us it is movies: "The Big Night," "Sideways," "A Good Year." And the song, "Red, Red, Wine." Oh wait -- "Ratatouille," of course! Everyone can cook!
Bibliochef: What do you eat for comfort food?
The Team: Home made soups or mashed potatoes. Monica’s chicken pot pie.
Bibliochef: Do you have a favorite restaurant in the Finger Lakes?
The Team: We all agreed it depends on what we are hungry for -- pasta, chicken, beef, etc. But of course—“they all are” works too!
Bibliochef: Thanks sooooo much for filling us in! And to the team for your answers to less goal directed questions. For more information about Slice, Dice & Spice, NY contact the Finger Lakes Visitors Connection, at 877-386-4669. Tickets are available at www.nywcc.com as well as www.slicediceandspiceny.com and at all area Wegmans Food Markets. For more inforFmation about the event and participants, visit these sites as well.
Slice Dice and Spice NY
tourism week
iron chef
Barilla
Wegmans
cooking contest
![Chef's Blog](http://<a href="http://www.chefsblogs.com"> <img border="0" src="http://www.chefsblogs.com/images/chefsblogs.png" width="80" height="15" alt="Chefs Blogs" ></a>){kind=link}