Motorcycles, bright lights and a whole lot of seafood. No, this wasn’t a night in Vegas, this was the Diamond Chef Arkansas culinary competition finale on Tuesday, June 2, benefitting the Pulaski Technical College Foundation.
Back in March, Chef Justin Patterson from The Southern Gourmasian beat out the PTC Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management Institute’s Billy Ginocchio, Cache Restaurant’s Payne Harding, YaYa’s European Bistro’s Elliot Jones, Green Leaf Grill’s Jason Knapp and Superior Bathhouse Brewery and Distillery’s Angela Nardi, earning the chance to take on last year’s reigning champion, Chef Marc Guizol, executive sous chef at the Capital Hotel.
PTC president Dr. Margaret Ellibee and PTC Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management Institute dean Chef Todd Gold, as well as chefs Patterson and Guizol, all entered on motorcycles like the rockstars that they are. After the mystery ingredient was revealed to be crabs, Patterson and Guizol scooped them out of the tanks and went to work.
The competition required three dishes from each chef to be prepared in 20-minute segments, using the mystery ingredients as the prominent item in each dish. The judges—chefs Jeff Bacon, Paul Bash, André Poirot and Christopher Donato—then scored the dishes based on taste, creativity, presentation and technical skill.
During the competition, guests were treated to a menu of blackened ahi tuna and bok choy mango slaw, kumquat compote, a duck fat crouton, beef short ribs, smoked cheddar grits, broccolini, baby carrots, red peppers, chesecake napoleon with chocolate mousse, raspberry purée and chocolate cake, as well as a long list of red and white wines. Basically, it was incredible.
Three rounds and a hard-faught battle later, Chef Marc Guizol once again came out on top. Chef Guizol will be invited back again next year to defend his title and face down a new competitor.
Many congrats to Chef Guizol and team! Number one for two years in a row? We know where we’re going for lunch.