What better way to bring a crowd together than hosting a food competition? Cherry Hill, NJ’s Bahama Breeze Grille hosts a region-wide chef competition to find the next new feature dish for their menu.
Bahama Breeze VP Corporate Executive Chef Peter Olsacher talks with Top Chef finalists.
Nine, talented cooks prepare dishes of their choice. Each chef is required to bring one special ingredient from home and is given a surprise ingredient in an envelope from the judges’ table to add to their dish. Voted by the top five judges, each dish could easily serve Bahama Breeze customers happy, but only one winner takes the grand prize of $1,000! From a side of savory mango pureed spaghetti to island-style quinoa with almond-stuffed peppers, these flavors had the judges running for their pallets.
1st Place: Cesar Pulido, Newark, NJ
Cesar Pulido of the Bahama Breeze Grille in Newark-Christiana Mall left as top chef. His dish, “The Grand Bahama” after an island off the Bohemian archipelago, was given a score of over 200 for creativity, temperature, presentation and taste.
Grand Bahama Salmon smothered in a honey chipotle glaze laced with sriracha alongside a vegetable salad of carrots, green beans and spinach on a bed of pineapple caught the judges’ attention. A small scoop of mashed sweet potato perfectly complements the sweet and spicy glaze as a accompaniment!
2nd Place: Billy Williams, Wayne, NJ
Billy Williams from Wayne’s location won second place with Jamaican-style snapper smothered in coconut milk and Jamaican spices.
Videos
The first Bahamas Breeze Top Chef Competition on Vimeo.
Congratulations to the finalists:
Jessica Moran, Lake Grove, NJ
Uriel Aparicio, Woodbridge, NJ
Plaster of Brittany, King of Prussia, PA
Karla Perez, Cherry Hill, NJ
James Sinclair, Princeton, NJ
Sergio Serrano, Toms River, NJ
Gustav Medina, Paramus, NJ
