Why would a chef want to pack up pots and pans and leave the comforts of his or her own restaurant to cook in someone else’s kitchen for one day or perhaps a couple of weeks? It’s the latest thing in competitive cookery. They are called “pop-up restaurants.” The nomad chef takes over another restaurant, including its name for an agreed-upon period, usually a couple of weeks, after which the former eatery resumes its tenure. The phenomenon started on the West Coast and has caused a minor buzz in the food press.
While Rhode Island has yet to see this exercise in short attention span dining, we have a version that has proven successful for chefs and enjoyable for diners. Our food festivals, such as the Taste of Rhode Island, host numerous chefs who recreate their restaurants in an exhibit space for a day or two each year. The events are very popular and long-standing. One which combines the elements of a movable feast and a contest is the annual Chef Smackdown, which annually benefits the Days of Taste chefs’ school project of the Rhode Island chapter of the American Institute of Wine and Food (AIWF). The Smackdown, to be held on Monday, Nov. 2 at the Hotel Viking in Newport, pits a team of five chefs from Newport against a five-member brigade from Providence in a culinary competition. The team which best executes its multicourse dinner – this year’s top-secret menu consists of 10 courses – is the winner. The judges are the diners, including members and guests of the AIWF, a nonprofit organization of foodies founded by Julia Child and Robert Mondavi in 1981.
So how do these chefs prepare for such a competition? As in any other competition, although a team effort, each individual has his or her own method. Chef Joe Hafner of Gracie’s, a veteran of such events and frequent host of guest chefs in his own kitchen, leaves virtually nothing to chance. “When I’m cooking in a foreign kitchen, I ship everything, including the garnishes!” Hafner sends his own pans and any tools he might need. He has packed special spoons and even a prized salt. “I’ve seen it happen and the first time you get burned [by being stranded without a necessary tool or ingredient] you swear you will never let it happen again,” he said.
To Champe Spiedel, chef and proprietor of Persimmon in Bristol and a member of the Newport team for this year’s Smackdown, there is one ingredient that is crucial. “You have to rely on your own ingenuity,” he said. As a trained chef, Speidel says the ability to adapt to different surroundings comes into play.
“This lets you show just how good you really are.” He notes the venue and support staff are critical in competitions such as this. “We’re at the Viking with its big banquet facility, so we’ll have room to maneuver. Everyone on the team helps, which is fantastic,” he said. Each chef is responsible for creating a single course.
When a team is serving, all its members assist in getting the dish out in time to assure proper temperature and presentation. Speidel is lavish in praising his teammates, John Philcox of Café Zelda, Kyle Ketchum of The Spiced Pear at the Chanler, Sue Zinno of Spark!, and Kevin Thiele of One Bellevue at the Hotel Viking.
“All of these chefs run their own kitchens. They are [creating and serving] every night. And we all know, sometimes in the kitchen things just come together magically!” The Newport team was victorious in last year’s event.
The Providence team is comprised of Hafner, Beau Vestal of New Rivers, Matt Gennuso of Chez Pascal, Derek Wagner of Nick’s on Broadway and Matt Jennings of La Laiterie at Farmstead. While the menu has been planned for weeks, it remains top secret to ensure fairness in judging. Hafner talked about the fine art of creating a memorable dish for the competition especially when cooking on so-called “foreign soil”: “Your dish can’t be overcomplicated.” He cites a chef’s recipe for disaster in a similar contest several years ago.
“There were three critical steps – tempura vegetables [flash-fried in a light batter], a foam [a frothy topping with an essence of flavor, popular in the early part of the decade] and a fried egg. This was to serve 125 people,” he said. “There were just too many things that could go wrong and they did. [It] completely demoralized this guy.”
What about those newfangled, pop-up restaurants? Could we see them in the future in Rhode Island? Hafner doesn’t think so. “We’re Providence, not New York City,” he said. He may have a point. We like our restaurants to stay in one place, even after they are gone. Just ask us for directions! •
Bruce Newbury’s Dining Out radio show can be heard Saturdays at noon on stations throughout New England. He can be reached at bruce@brucenewbury.com.
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