Chef Charles Hunter III Wins Iron Fork 2023

The Scene’s annual chef battle, Iron Fork, took place Thursday night, and one chef gathered the glory: Charles Hunter III. The personal chef, recipe developer and food blogger, whose company is called The Salted Table, was judged to have made the best use of this year’s secret ingredient, crème fraîche. (The French-style ingredient is a dairy product similar to sour cream.)

Hunter faced formidable competition from three other chefs: Kristin Beringson of Henley, Arnold Myint of International Market and Chris Neff of Makeready Libations & Liberation.

An annual event sponsored by US Foods, Iron Fork puts chefs to the test in a fun and lively way. As the battle kicks off, the secret ingredient is announced, and the chefs have just 10 minutes to secure ingredients from the US Foods pantry. Then they each have one hour to whip the ingredient into shape in the form of a beautiful plate of food, which is judged on three criteria: creativity, taste and presentation.

This year’s event took place at the Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum, with two emcees — Scene Editor-in-Chief D. Patrick Rodgers and comedian and artist Josh Black. Partygoers were able to enjoy samples from more than 20 local restaurants while strolling the hall and watching the four chefs compete in the challenging environment of mobile cooking stations.

Hunter was the first to present his plate, which featured carrot puree with crème fraîche, topped with what he called “beautifully seared duck breast with lots of warm spices.” It also included a celery-dill-scallion garnish with a lemon-citrus vinaigrette and a crème fraîche-and-herb biscuit. Asked to give a title to his dish, Hunter called it “happiness on a plate.”

Myint was the next presenter, and he touched the audience by recalling his late mother, Patti Myint, the founder of International Market and a pioneer in Asian food in Nashville. (Arnold and his sister Anna, who was also present at the event, opened a new incarnation of International Market last year.)

Arnold Myint noted, “The last conversation I had with my mother was how to make shu mai dumplings. That was my grandmother’s recipe.” He added that he used that very recipe to make the dough for his dish. On a piece of paper proclaiming, “My birthday is today,” Myint declared the contents of his plate: five-spice duck and bacon dumplings with cucumber raita, pickled grapes and celery salad with duck cracklings and capers. He said he managed to employ crème fraîche in three places within the colorful melange.

Chris Neff revealed his dish to be a variation on a beloved classic, shrimp and grits, featuring crème fraîche grits. He added that the shrimp were poached, served on a platter with Calabrian chile, a little butter, and herb chimichurri.

Presenting her plate, Kristin Beringson laughed while pointing out her accomplishment: She was able to pull off a dish featuring fresh pasta within the strict Iron Fork time limit of one hour. She described her creation as “fresh tortellini stuffed with a shrimp, bacon and crème fraîche filling, a coconut tom-ka-inspired broth with some lime, crème fraîche — there’s some gochugang in there — and then an herb salad with just a little bit of crème fraîche vinaigrette.” She noted that she also used crème fraîche three ways.

Given the impressive plates, the judges had their work cut out for them. The judging panel featured Cortney Lacorte of The Cheese Gal, Lockeland Table chef Hal Holden-Bache (a previous Iron Fork winner), chef Ed Butler of US Foods, and World Food Championships CEO Mike McCloud.

In the end it was Hunter who bagged the Iron Fork trophy, along with a berth at the World Food Championships, to be held in Dallas in November. We’ll watch for the outcome this fall.

The VIP ticket holders in the house also got to watch an Iron Fork mixology competition, with Bay 6’s Beau Gaultier, Black Rabbit’s Kenichi Saito and Proof’s Diana Small. The secret ingredient was star anise, and Saito took the prize.

Also part of the night’s action: an auction of one plate from each chef. The audience proved generous, with all of the auction proceeds going to The Nashville Food Project. The total haul was $2,450, including a whopping $900 for Beringson’s dish. Iron Fork 2023 was a great party benefiting a very good cause.