Food lovers and fans of the Food Network series “Chopped” will have one more opportunity to check out the live, local version produced by Feed Your Soul. The third and final competition in the Nickel City Firing Line series will take place this Sunday, Dec. 2 at Artisan Kitchens & Baths. Chefs Teddy Bryant of Lloyd Taco Truck and D.J. Cook of Sample restaurant will face-off in the kitchen before a live audience to see who will be chosen the Firing Line Champion.
If you missed out on the first two rounds of the series, you can check out video highlights on the Nickel City Chef website. Firing Line is set up similarly to the competitions on “Chopped,” but with its own live audience format. In part one of the final competition, each chef will be given a basket of mandatory secret ingredients from which he must prepare an entrée in under 45 minutes. The second half will be a dessert challenge, where each chef will have 20 minutes to create a dessert using one secret ingredient and a basic pantry.
Chef Teddy Bryant was chosen the winner of the first round match on Nov. 7, which also included Chef James Gehrke of Mike A at Hotel Lafayette and Chef Jason LaMotte of The Conference & Event Center in Niagara Falls. The contenders created dishes using local ingredients, including ground pork from T-Meadow Farms, celeriac and kale from Promised Land CSA, and bonito flakes. Chef Bryant is graduate of the Culinary Institute of America who has worked in numerous restaurants in Las Vegas as a butcher, grill cook, and sous chef. He currently holds the position of sous chef for Lloyd Taco Truck.
The second match took place on Nov. 14, when Chef D.J. Cook of Sample won the challenge against Chef Daniel Kirby of Seabar and Chef Anthony Petrilli of Park Country Club. This competition featured heritage chicken from Painted Meadows, kohlrabi and Chantenay carrots from Arden Farms, and whole pitted dates as the secret ingredients. Chef Cook is a Buffalo native who graduated from the French Culinary Institute and spent the last five years working in New York at the Michelin-starred Rouge Tomate and as a tournant at Pulino’s.
The series finale will take place at 2:30 p.m. in the kitchen showroom at Artisan Kitchens & Baths, located at 200 Amherst Street. Hosting the event will be Bert Gambini, Chef Mike Andrzejewski, and Chef Adam Goetz of Sample. The competition will be judged by restaurant critics Julia Burke of Buffalo Spree and Andrew Galarneau of The Buffalo News, as well as Chef Steven Gedra of Bistro Europa. Tickets can be purchased online at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/282249.
Artisan Kitchens and Baths
200 Amherst Street
Buffalo, NY 14226
(716) 873-4100