Aaron Kirschner- Head Chef
Austin Forest- Head Chef
Daniel Kates- Sous Chef- Austin's team
Oliver King- Sous Chef- Aaron's team
Adin Baird- Sous Chef- Aaron's team
Pan of super tender 24 hour braised pork belly!
Slicing sashimi style!
Arugula noodles with balsamic pearls and crumbled chevre- Made by chef Austin's team
Salmon crudo with cucumbers, capers, salmon roe, and dill-lemon creme fraiche- Made by Chef Aaron's team
Broiled king salmon with whipped potatoes and vegetables- Made by Chef Austin's team
Butter-poached lobster with creamed corn and tempura bone marrow- Made by Chef Aaron's team
Braised pork belly with apple and pumpkin purees- Made by Chef Austin's team
Braised short ribs with celery root- horseradish puree, red cabbage marmalade, and roasted mushrooms- Made by Chef Aaron's team
Mango panna cotta with passion fruit sorbet and coconut foam- Made by Chef Austin's team
Chocolate lava cake with red beet ice cream, walnut sable and raspberry sauce- Made by Chef Aaron's team
All the competitors, honored to work side by side with them!
The first ever Jr. Flatiron Chef, Me, standing with the three judges!
Aaron has asked me (dad) to write the review of the evening's festivities, since he didn't get to eat any of the food (except for constantly tasting dishes to make sure what he was about to serve was the way he wanted it. See how much you can learn from people going home on Top Chef???)
First, let me say that both boys did an incredible job. Speaking with the judges afterward (Chef Eric Skokan from the Black Cat Farm Table Bistro, Chef Chuck Stober from the faculty of the Culinary School of the Rockies, and Dan Hayward the owner of the wonderful Savory Spice Shops), they revealed that they were constantly looking at one another, finding it hard to believe that the high-quality food they were eating was being produced by 13 and 14 year-old boys. Chef Skokan told me that he felt that overall, the understanding that the chefs had of flavor pairings, technique, execution and outright skill was better than most culinary school graduates that apply for jobs at his restaurant. High praise indeed from one of the most renowned chefs west of the Mississippi.
Second, a tremendous debt is owed to Chef John Platt of Q's Restaurant for taking the chance on these boys, and turning over his wait staff, his back kitchen and himself to oversee the competition. You'll notice that Austin was short one sous-chef. That is because one of the boys who was supposed to compete wound up getting grounded, which is something you don't see a lot of in the restaurant business. Chef John filled out the team for Austin, making certain that there would be no imbalance between the teams. Chef John was incredible in the way he treated the boys, the guidance he offered, and the encouragement he provided throughout the process. At the end, he hinted that this would not be the last such event that Q's might host.
Now, on to the competition itself. Austin tried something very challenging with his first course, which was an arugula noodle (using agar to set the noodle), plated with a salad of arugula, tomato and chevre, with balsamic pearls (also done with agar). Unfortunately, the noodle didn't have the desired taste, and the natural bitterness of the arugula came out even more than usual, making it the only less than successful dish of the night. For the record, the balsamic pearls were superb, and the rest of the salad worked well.
Aaron went in a different direction, plating a simple, but beautiful salmon crudo with roe, cucumber, capers and lemon-dill creme fraiche. It was a safe choice, but it was a very fresh start to his meal, which would increase in complexity and density from course to course.
Austin's best dish was his second course, a perfectly plated broiled salmon with a lemon butter sauce, on top of whipped potatoes and absolutely crisp, clean snap peas and asparagus. This was an absolutely delicious dish, however, it was also his most entree-like course, and probably should have been served third, rather than second, for the sake of continuity.
Aaron's second course was butter-poached lobster, served on top of creamed organic corn, with a tantalizing sliver of fried bone marrow and a bit of pumpkin seed pesto. This was also a wonderful dish, the lobster cooked just right, and the tempura-coated bone marrow adding a tasty treat to the plate. I gave a slight nod to Austin's dish for Round Two.
The third course brought meat from both competitors, with Austin choosing to serve 24-hour braised pork belly with separate apple and pumpkin purees. Although the original agreement was that the chefs would prepare the entire meal in 3+ hours, everyone agreed that it would be impossible to braise pork belly in that short a period of time, and so Austin went in on Saturday to get his dish started. The pork belly was very tender and delicious, however, the apple puree was a little too sweet, and tended to obscure some of the flavor notes of both the pork and the pumpkin. As mentioned before, it also wasn't as "complete" a dish as his second course, and the two might have shown even better in reversed positions.
Aaron chose braised short rib for this course, with celery-root/horseradish puree, red cabbage marmalade, roasted mushrooms and a port wine reduction. Most of the diners, as well as the judges, felt that this was the "dish of the night." The meat fell off the bone, the horseradish, rather than overpowering the celery root, gave it a finishing kick that led the diner right into the next bite of the dish, and the sauce and marmalade actually had the regular chefs in the restaurant going to the boys' kitchen for tastes during prep.
Once again, the boys went in different directions for dessert. Austin chose to go tropical, with a mango panna cotta topped with passionfruit sorbet, and a coconut milk whipped cream. The dish was beautifully composed, and the taste of the three elements together made for a very refreshing and satisfying end of the meal. The coconut whipped cream was a real standout here, as the texture was cloud-like and transported you to some faraway beach when it hit your mouth.
Aaron chose chocolate lava cake, accompanied by a fresh beet ice cream, with a walnut sable cookie and raspberry sauce. The lava oozed out of the perfectly executed cake, and the beet ice cream, while a bit "beety" when tasted alone, worked very well when consumed along with the chocolate in a single bite. The cookie added an extra note of crunch, and a different kind of sweetness to round out the dish. The dessert course was a draw, with both chefs putting forth very strong finishes to their meals.
In the end, the judges decided that Aaron's team had prevailed. Aaron took a brief inward moment, gathered himself, and immediately went and hugged Austin. Since the boys hadn't eaten, I took them all out for some pizza (!) after the event. What was fantastic was the complete air of camaraderie amongst all five of them. They dissected the entire evening together, started dreaming up plans for further competitions, and all of them carried the pride of a job very well done, and the exhaustion of a long day on the line.
Throughout this process, the local (and sometimes even national) food community has been very gracious in encouraging this competition that Aaron created out of whole cloth. As mentioned, Chef John Platt was the man who allowed this to happen, and we can't express enough gratitude to him and to Q's. Chef Eric, Chef Chuck and Dan not only took their jobs as judges seriously, but they helped provide some of the prizes for the competitors. The boys will have the opportunity to work alongside Chef Eric in preparing one of his Farm Dinners this summer. The Pinyon restaurant, Breadworks, Peppercorn and Cen-Tex Supplies also provided prizes. And for Aaron, the cherry on top of the sundae came when he got a surprise good-luck call from one of his culinary heroes, Richard Blais, winner of Top Chef All-Stars. Richard had read the article in the Daily Camera in which he was mentioned as one of Aaron's influences, and his wife e-mailed Cindy Sutter, the food editor and article writer, asking if she could get a phone number so Richard could call, because he was so impressed with what Aaron was doing. Richard even tweeted about their phone call the next day!
That's about it from me, so I'll turn it over to the first Jr. Flatiron Chef, so that he can tell you what it felt like to win. Needless to say, I am one proud papa.
The competition was hot and crazy. There was so much going on at one time I did not know if I was going to be able to finish all my dishes. After every last plate had gone out the feeling of satisfaction just simply took over. I had done it, and now it was all up to the judges. When they called us up knots formed in my stomach, I wanted it so badly, and then "Aaron's team is the clear winner here". The feeling was surreal, I wanted to jump and shout but I held that in for later. I went over to Austin and shook his hand and congratulated him on a great competition. To quote one of my favorite chefs, Richard Blais, "Where there's a will there's a way but I willed this".
