Beaver Creek Master Chef Classic

When we first moved to Colorado I thought “Oh my word…I’m stuck in the middle nowhere…in pleb-ville…where all restaurants are chains and everyone dresses in jeans and tracksuit tops when they go out for dinner”. This was as far removed from life in London as could be. In London we went to fabulous restaurants and most people dress up to go to restaurants or shops – you won’t catch anyone in nasty sweatpants or gym clothes in Selfridges or Harvey Nichols – or even in Topshop or H&M for that matter. It was a bit of a culture shock.

Luckily the shock subsided when we went to places like downtown Denver, Boulder and Cherry Creek. There were numerous great non-franchise/chain places with exciting menus, well dressed people and great food. This was more up my alley - Hallelujah!

Colorado’s food scene shot up quite a few more notches on my foodie-ometer when we attended the Beaver Creek Master Chef Classic which took place on January 28-30, 2010. It is an annual foodfest presented by Bon Appétit magazine (love!) and hosted by the fabulous ski resort, Beaver Creek. During the 3 day food extravaganza there were numerous events such as Luncheons, snow-shoeing tours, Sushi and Pastry workshops hosted by world-renowned chefs such as Laurent Tourondel, Francois Payard, Cat Cora, Hidekazu Tojo and Michael Psilakis. We attended only 2 events, not because we didn’t want to, but rather because we took too long to book the tickets, so most events were sold out a few weeks before the festival started. The 2 events that we attended were the Master Chef Challenge and the Grand Tasting. Both events were great and worth the big ticket price.

Cat Cora on stage with the chefs hard at work


Master Chef Challenge

Think Iron Chef (originally a Japanese cooking competition show that has become a huge hit in America) in an auditorium – that is the best way that I can describe it. Unlike Iron chef which only has 1 round of competition, the Master Chef Challenge has 2 rounds with 2 teams of 2 chefs competing in each round, and the winners of the 2 rounds compete against each other in the final round. Each round had a different secret ingredient (just like Iron Chef) and the 3 judges taste and score the dishes. The winner of the challenge was Ming Tsai – I’m not sure if it was his food or all of his witty comments that won him the title, but he had the crowd in stitches and the smells were incredible.

While all of the live cooking was going on (20 minutes of cooking per round) and during judging, we were entertained by the tiny fireball and great chef, Cat Cora as MC – opa, y’all! She was great - even busted a few moves with some audience members - respect!

Judging


Tip: If you are going to the Master Chef Challenge next year, do yourself a favor and eat something small before you go, because the food smells will drive you bonkers if you don’t and you will end up gobbling up a slab of chocolate like we did. During the breaks and before the competition starts, they do offer some small tastings from different sponsors such as restaurants in the area, wineries, rum makers and Lindt Sea Salt Chocolate (its divine – just try it!), but it is by no means meant to be a meal, and the event ends too late to go to one of the amazing restaurants in the area.

I would definitely attend the competition again – you saw a fun side of the chefs and it was a great evening out. Another great thing is that you could purchase cookery books at the venue and the chefs signed them for you – thanks Michael Psilakis!


Grand Tasting

The Grand tasting was hosted at the Ritz Carlton and it was any foodie’s dream come true – a night of small tasters of some of the most amazing dishes that I can think of! Some of the highlights were Michael “one bite” Psilakis’ dish - Hirimasa Sashimi Studied with Garlic, Olive & Tomato, Laurent Tourondel’s Bacon Dusted Hanger Steak / Apple Cider Slaw and the Red Wine Braised Oxtail with Truffle-Marrow Custard and Potato Mousseline made by David Walford and Brian Ackerman from Splendido in Beaver Creek. Just thinking about these dishes makes my mouth water. We were truly treated to some amazing food!

I also tasted a great Sauvignon Blanc from California made by Schweiger Vineyards. The combination of all the food could get a bit too much at some time, so a taste of this amazingly well balanced wine did wonders for the palate.

The Schweiger Wine "stand"


The great thing about this food festival is its location - Beaver Creek - it is such a different and special place. I definitely recommend this food fest for skiers and non-skiers because there is so much to do in Beaver Creek and if you attend half of the events, you will be too busy to hit the slopes. We stayed at the Westin in Avon and it was a great location. Not only is there a free shuttle every hour to Beaver Creek Village, but they also have a free gondola that takes you to the ski lifts. The hotel has a more modern feel than most of the more traditional log-cabin styled hotels in the area and offers great rates to Colorado locals if you book directly on the Starwood Hotels website. http://www.starwoodhotels.com/westin/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1958

Beautiful Beaver Creek


All in all – a fantastic culinary event and I for one will definitely go back year after year. I'm counting down the days...