KAILUA-KONA — Mikey D’Amato kept his head down, focusing on his temporary kitchen and furiously preparing a tofu dish worthy of winning first place in a cooking competition.
“I’m not worried about the judges,” D’Amato said to the hungry crowd waiting for a sample. “I’m worried about these people. Have to feed all the monsters.”
At Gertrude’s Jazz Bar on Tuesday, D’Amato was competing along with chef Deanna Delmar and chef Brandon Yamasaki in Chef Battle, an event produced by Social Power Hour. A live event similar to competitions seen on television, the three local chefs were cooking their hearts out to qualify for the Chef Battle regionals later this year. Finishing well at regionals could then lead to cooking on the national stage at the All-American Chef Battle in 2020.
D’Amato’s tofu dish may have fed the hungry, but he didn’t win first place. He tied for second in both the judges’ and the crowd’s vote, along with Delmar. Yamasaki placed first.
Not that it matters. Because of the second place tie, D’Amato and his two competitors will all head to Anaheim, California, on Nov. 3 to compete in the regional round of the Chef Battle.
“My inspiration for doing this competition was to show people that one, bartenders can cook, and that two, vegan bartenders can compete,” said D’Amato, a chef and bartender at The Suitcase Barman in Hilo. “I wanted to highlight that you can make a good dish without animal products in it.”
With only one hour to cook, the chefs’ dishes were critiqued and voted on by both the amateur crowd and a selected group of local judges.
Yamasaki, who cooks at Hula Hulas in Hilo, won the vote from the judges and the crowd with his special beef stroganoff dish, and to him, it was something he had prepared for his whole life.
“I grew up with stroganoff,” Yamasaki said. “It’s cheap, and you can make a lot of it”
Delmar’s poke dish, made with ahi, pineapple, papaya, and served on a taro chip, tied for second.
“I figured with my Hawaiian background, I would bring out the Hawaiian flavors I grew up with and try to put it in a different dish,” Delmar said. “This is the first time I’ve ever used pineapple and papaya with poke, so that was real different for me.”
This is the second year Social Power Hour has produced Chef Battle, but the first time the event has come to Kona. Until regionals in November, chefs in Portland, Las Vegas, Des Moines, Sioux Falls, St. Louis, Milwaukee, New Orleans, Raleigh and Detroit, among many other cities in the U.S., will compete at Chef Battle for a chance to qualify.
Local food writer and Chef Battle judge Karen Rose said the list of what the judges were to look for when tasting a dish were appearance, overall presentation, creativity, originality and the overall taste. Rose’s taste buds weren’t hard to please for the competitors.
“I love food and I’m not a picky eater at all, so I love all kinds of food,” Rose said. “And since I’ve become more involved in writing about food, I’m starting to really appreciate the plating and what it looks like as well, and focusing on the unique flavors.”
Judge John Moore appreciated not only the taste of the food, but the presentation as well. He was impressed with what the chefs could do in a high-stakes environment.
“Food is an art,” Moore said. “I think the movement now with food is to make it as visually appealing as possible, as well as focusing on just the taste.”