Student-Chefs Face Celebrity Judges in Top-Chef-Style Challenge

"It's too bad this is burnt, but at least it's butchered really well. The last guy killed his." (Photos by Stephanie Shih.)

Top Chef is one of those made-for-TV scenarios—rarely in real life are you pumping out food you’ve only had minutes to think about before cooking, sweating bullets trying to anticipate the palates of the celebrity diners who will be the judges of your doom. But last night that nightmare came true for eleven Italian Culinary Academy students, each of whom were given two recipes they’d never seen before (risotto con funghi, pesce al cartoccio, and the like) and had to prepare them for four guest jurors: chefs Michael White (Alto, Convivio), Anne Burrell, Amanda Freitag (The Harrison), and food writer and publisher Arlyn Blake. As the four ate—or perhaps, sampled cautiously—Dean Cesare Casella (Salumeria Rosi) reminded everyone that “after 29 weeks, they’re not chefs, they’re advanced students.” Photo by Stephanie Shih The reactions ranged from “Well… I’ve tasted a lot worse risotto in a lot of restaurants” to “At least this fish is butchered really well—‘cause the last guy killed his” and “Is this supposed to be served cold?” Many of the mistakes came a from over ambition or eagerness (”Should we be talking about how this isn’t the proper way to present a rustic dish?”), but who can blame them? With the dishes counting for 50% of their overall grade, and Burrell and co. next door, it’d be easy to get a little carried away. After dinner the student-chefs were lined up firing-squad style in front of the panel of judges to receive their sentence. Photo by Stephanie Shih The judges deliberating. A fancy caponata. Fish in parchment—or, as Michael White called it, “the money shot.” -Stephanie Shih