Iron Fork winner Jessica Benefield of Two Ten Jack
The 2017 Nashville Scene Iron Fork competition was a special one. For its 10th year, the contest pitted previous winners against one another for this year’s trophy. A tournament of champions, if you will. Last night's competitors included 2013 winner Jessica Benefield of Two Ten Jack, 2014 winner Hal Holden-Bache of Lockeland Table and 2015 winner Dale Levitski of TomKats Hospitality/EiO & The Hive. Defending champion/2016 winner Atul Jain of Chauhan Ale & Masala House had to bow out at the last minute due to a family matter — his wife gave birth.
Just like previous years, competitors were given a challenge to create a dish around a mystery ingredient — this time, a watermelon radish — armed only with a sous chef, a well-appointed pantry, and their own creativity. After an hour of prep and cook time, the chefs’ dishes were presented to judges.
Benefield, who stepped off a plane from Japan three days ago and was still suffering jet lag, drew the first slot. Her dish was a broth-less ramen accented with the radish in what one judge called a "textbook" bit of knife work. She also did a pickled radish as a palate cleanser.
Holden-Bache went more rustic, poaching a scallop in a radish butter and putting it over wild rice shot through with corn, mini greens and a radish chowchow. His plate also featured two different radish sauces.
Levitski offered a sampling of proteins accented with the secret ingredient: shrimp with radish, pierogies stuffed with radish, and a tenderloin with a radish pesto.
The combatants brought a new level to their presentations, too, with Benefield setting the judges table with a tie-dyed X and custom chopsticks. while Levitski served his dishes with his grandmother's china and crystal, lit candles and poured a red wine.
After carefully tasting each dish, the panel of judges chose Benefield as the champion of champions, in a very close decision. In addition to getting to possess the Golden Fork trophy for the next year, she has won a berth at this year's World Food Championships in Orange Beach, Ala.
Meanwhile, in the inaugural Iron Fork mixology competition, the winner was Joe Zakowski of Bar Sovereign. (The secret ingredient was jerky.)
While the food judging took place, a serving of each dish was auctioned off to raise additional funds for the event's beneficiary, The Nashville Food Project. The nonprofit organization’s mission is to bring people together to grow, cook and share nourishing food, with the goals of cultivating community and alleviating hunger in our city.
Check out the chefs' dishes:
The winning dish! Chef Jessica Benefield's broth-less ramen with radish (plus a side of pickled radish).
Chef Hal Holden-Bache's scallops poached in radish butter over wild rice.
From chef Dale Levitski: a dish of shrimp with radish, pierogies stuffed with radish, and a tenderloin with radish pesto.
