Culinary showdown presents Tech's best

Grilled chicken breast with portobello mushroom cream sauce, thyme fingerling potatoes and sautéed asparagus sounds like a fancy entrée from a five-star restaurant.

Surprisingly enough, this delicious, custom-made recipe was conceived at a Tech dining hall.

The recipe was part of the winning meal created by Kari Smid in the first annual Tech Culinary Competition held in Woodruff this past Saturday, Jan. 27.

The culinary competition was the first of its kind to be hosted at Tech. It was sponsored by the GT Dining Student Advisory Board, which began planning for the competition months in advance.

The competition was an Iron Chef-style face-off in which three chefs were challenged to craft a three-course meal in just under two hours. The chefs had no knowledge of the ingredients and were not allowed to prepare their cooking stations prior to arrival.

After the ingredients were unveiled, the chefs had 15 minutes to create a menu. Subsequently, the chefs had three 40-minute time blocks to create one appetizer, one salad and one entrée.

The three competing chefs were Michael Gumbert, head chef at Brittain, Kari Smid, head chef at Woodruff, and Anthony Rivera, executive sous chef of Dining Services.

Michael Gumbert

Gumbert has been the head chef at Brittain since June 2006. Bringing to the table 20 years of experience, Gumbert is no newbie to the culinary arts. He graduated from Johnson and Wales University in Charleston, S.C. in 1991.

Gumbert described college as the place where he found his true passion, albeit a little later than expected.

"I cooked my way through college...I was only half a semester from a history degree before I realized I liked cooking more than writing thesis papers," Gumbert said.

Gumbert is used to cooking on a large scale. Before cooking for the masses at Tech, Gumbert cooked for the masses as the executive chef at Proof of the Pudding, a popular catering company based out of Atlanta.

"Coming up with a menu is the hardest part...it is definitely a challenge for our creative sides," Gumbert said.

Kari Smid

Smid started cooking for Woodruff at the beginning of fall semester. An expert chef, Smid has been cooking for 16 years, seven of which have been in the Atlanta area. Smid graduated from the California Culinary Academy in 1999.

Before working at Tech, Smid was a line cook at Pano's and Paul's, an acclaimed Buckhead Italian eatery. However, it was her tenure at Café 458 that garnered the most attention. Her work there earned her a Creative Loafing People's Choice Award for best chef in 2005.

Smid has brought her culinary expertise and insight to Tech's dining halls, making her an ideal candidate for the culinary competition.

"I guess I did all right. Forty minutes seems like a long time, but it's really not. Especially when I'm trying to showcase the best of my skills and food," Smid said.

Anthony Rivera

Rivera has been cooking for 14 years. Rivera graduated from Johnson and Wales University in Charlotte, N.C. Most of his experience has been from country clubs in the Southeast. However, Rivera had humble beginnings before attaining his status as a chef.

"I started as a dishwasher. Then I got a raise and went from washing dishes to peeling potatoes. Then I got a raise to peeling shrimp. Before I knew it, I was cooking," Rivera said.

Rivera credits the distinguished Augusta National Golf Club as the site of most of his culinary enrichment.

"I would say that I really learned to cook at Augusta National from 1994 to 1997. That's where I honed my skills," Rivera said.

Rivera noted ingredient selection as the most difficult part of the competition.

"It's important to have sweet, spicy and savory ingredients to make a good dish. Today we have spicy and savory, but hardly any sweet! That's what's killing me," Rivera said.

Competition

"This competition was a great idea. We don't get the chance to see the full talent of the chefs, who are restricted to a set menu," said Binh Dam, an Electrical and Computer Engineering graduate student.

Other students marveled at the sheer skill and creativity the chefs displayed.

"It is amazing that the chefs have risen to this ability...to be able to create such complex dishes in such a short amount of time," said Jake Nieman, a first-year Computer Engineering major.

"I'm so glad to see the interest that has been generated around this competition. Many students came to the dining hall just to see this," said Shequita Barnes, marketing manager for Sodexho.

After the smoke cleared (literally), Smid emerged victorious with her shrimp and mango egg roll, baby spinach salad with seared scallops and airline chicken breast with portobello cream sauce and vegetables.

The judges noted a very skilled use of the available ingredients as well as a balance of flavors in Smid's ensemble.

"There was a clear focus in the dishes. The mixture of textures and flavors was delicious," said Michael Deihl, a judge for the event.

To let students sample Smid's winning dinner, the GT Dining Student Advisory Board is sponsoring a Valentine's Day dinner, complete with a live musical selection. The three-course dinner, along with a dessert, will be served for 10 dollars at Ferst Place in the Student Center 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 10.