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In BR's first Chef's Challenge we didn't expect chefs to prepare multiple dishes, but we found that a few did. We solved that by selecting the best of their offerings and comparing it with the other contestant's entries. For this challenge, our second, we asked chefs, via a written letter, to prepare only one dish with the following exceptions: the dish could be a duo or trio, where multiple cohesive preparations appear on one plate, or, the use of the mystery ingredient could be in a starch or other side dish that accompanies a main protein.

Prime 490, in their eagerness, prepared three dishes for me to taste. The main dish was made by Executive Chef Leonard Mordino, who is new at Prime 490 having come on boa…

We're winding down to the top three chefs in BR's Chef's Challenge: White Cow's Yogurt. The third place winner is Chef Kevin O'Connell of O'Connell's on Kenmore Avenue.

He loved our product of choice, White Cow Dairy's Plain Yogurt, and recognized the quality of it from the moment he twisted the lid off of one of the little glass jars. What he wasn't happy about was how many tries it took for him to end up with a dish he was content with. He had initially planned to use it in gnocchi, but the texture was too loose and the gnocchi dough didn't quite achieve the structure necessary to survive the shaping and cooking process.

Chef ultimately decided to prepare a protein and side dish for us, using the yogurt in three distinct fashions. The dish consisted of perfectly (and I mean perfectly) pre…

Roasted beets, pickled red onion, orange segments and arugula; lightly dressed with White Cow's yogurt, infused with basil and orange zest. Fresh, bright and simple. Everything one looks for in a salad, and an elegant approach to the use of the “mystery ingredient”. With this dish, Chef Brian Mietus of Bacchus takes the second Honorable Mention Award in Buffalo Rising's Chef's Challenge: White Cow Dairy's Yogurt.

Chef Mietus' culinary philosophy focuses on using the freshest seasonal ingredients available. He enjoys pairing French techniques with American ingredients--something he learned during his time at the New England Culinary Academy. He further honed his skills during the subsequent decade, as he traveled the U.S., cooking in resort towns in Utah, Colorado and Nantucket. He also c…

Toro is the first restaurant to be featured in the countdown toward the winner of BR's Chef's Challenge: White Cow Yogurt.

Toro’s arrival on Elmwood five years ago marks a time when the avenue was transitioning from a “strip” into a “village”. Owner Nick Kotrides helped to bring about that change with his first establishment, Faherty's, the popular bar with a neighborhood feel that is located next door to Toro.

Toro’s current chef, Justin Brink, studied at the Institute of Culinary Education in Manhattan and then spent a number of years cooking in vacation hot spots for the likes of Emeril Lagasse. Brink has been with Toro since its inception, donning the toak of the executive chef last autumn after Chef Dino Debell moved to Hertel’s Empire Grill, which is Kotrides’ third restau…

Welcome to the second installment of Buffalo Rising's Chef's Challenge, wherein some of the top chefs in Buffalo square off in a competition of wit, skill, and versatility!

Regular readers will recognize the structure of Chef's Challenge from our first contest, which featured chayote as the mystery ingredient.

For those of you new to YUM! or unfamiliar with the first installment of the contest, here's a quick rundown.

Local chefs agree to receive a surprise ingredient and are given 24 hours to develop an original recipe showcasing the product. I then return, often with a fellow taster, to sample (and occasionally devour) the offering, shoot some photos and speak with the chef about their background, food philosophy and the restaurant as a whole. Dishes are then rated from Honorable Mention …

BR's Buffalo Chef's Challenge: Chayote comes to a close today with the announcement of the winner- SAMPLE! Chef Aaron Dombroski really impressed me with his selection of well-conceived, delicately balanced bites.

As I mentioned in the Torches piece, we furnished everyone with a pretty comprehensive list of rules for the chayote challenge. We did however, manage to overlook the fact that some people would prepare more than one dish. Shango prepared three small items, served all on the same plate. Torches made seven courses, and at the time of tasting, Jenn at Amaryllis was disappointed by her interpretation of the rules- that chefs could prepare only one. We certainly won't omit the specifics on the number of entries allowed in the future.

Since contemporary cuisine has really taken a turn toward serving things in multiples, we decided that the only fair way to deal with …

We are now on our 6th entry detailing the contestants and the dishes that they presented for BR's Buffalo Chef's Challenge: Chayote. I won't disclose all of the details again, so those of you that are not regular readers, and are unfamiliar with the challenge, it's rules, and it's participants, can access that information using the list of links below.

I am pleased to announce that our second place winner is Shango Bistro and Wine Bar. They've been featured on BR before, and I find that the food is consistently well-prepared. When I contacted Jim Guarino, chef and owner, and Marla Crouse, manager and wine director, they were both excited about the project. When I delivered the “mystery” ingredient, Jim was intrigued and enthusiastic. It seems that chayote is a common ingredient in Cajun and Creole cuisine. Though Chef Jim had never used mirliton (the French term for ch…

We recently organized the BR Buffalo Chef's Challenge: Chayote in which seven chefs competed against one another to see, within 24 hours, who could could come up with the most interesting recipe featuring our “mystery ingredient.” For our first round of BR's Buffalo Chef's Challenge we chose chayote. For those of you unfamiliar with this fruit (though more akin to a vegetable in taste), please see our introductory post from a few weeks ago.

Each chef/restaurant is ranked in first, second or third place (which happens to be a tie), or in one of three positions in our Honorable Mention category. The winners are revealed from Honorable Mention on up (every Tuesday and Thursday), with the winner being announced on June 14th. Again, please refer to the initial post for more information. For link…

We recently organized the BR Buffalo Chef's Challenge: Chayote in which seven chefs “battled” one another in a cooking competition. Each restaurant was presented with a mystery ingredient and given 24 hours (give or take a few) to develop an original dish utilizing it. This challenge will be held on a quarterly basis, if you are a restaurant interested in participating in our next challenge, please contact me through email.

For more information regarding this challenge, please see the initial post detailing the event. Each chef is ranked in first, second or third place (which happens to be a tie) or in one of three positions in our honorable mention category. The winners are revealed from honorable mention on up, with the winner being announc…

Ranking at the top of our Honorable Mention category is the respected Left Bank, long considered by local foodies and critic Janice Okun as one of the best restaurants in the city.

Left Bank's Sunday brunch is one of the nicest in the city, not only delicious but also accompanied by a string quartet. Wednesdays offer guests the opportunity to experience some high-end Thai and Vietnamese cuisine. Additionally, the bar itself is a really enjoyable place to meet friends or a date for those not fond of the scene found at old pubs or Chippewa's watering holes.

For the specifics regarding the competition, please see our initial post which describes the structure of the challenge and …

As most of our daily readers know, we recently organized the BR Buffalo Chef's Challenge: Chayote in which seven local chefs “battled” each other in a cooking competition. Each was presented with a mystery ingredient and given 24 hours (give or take a few) to develop an original dish showcasing the aforementioned mystery ingredient. This challenge will be held on a quarterly basis, if you are a restaurant interested in participating in our next challenge, please contact me through email.

For more information regarding this challenge, please see the initial post detailing the event. Each chef is ranked in first, second or third place (which happens to be a tie) or in one of three positions in our honorable mention category. The winners are rev…

Those of you that read our introductory post on Tuesday explaining our latest culinary undertaking, the BR's Buffalo Chef's Challenge, know that on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the next few weeks we'll be ranking the participants in our little “cook off”. The competition will end on June 14th with the announcement of the winner and a thorough investigation of their remarkable entry.

Placing in our Honorable Mention category is the North End Bistro located on Hertel. Formerly Little Talia's, the business changed hands and became the North End a number of years ago. More recently it was purchased by chef/owner Marc Marotta. The cuisine remains decidedly Italian, with a good mix of both classic dishes and a few originals developed and honed by the chef throughout his career. The most popular…

In addition to steaming thermo-circulators, whirring food processors, and mind-blowing knife skills, common and odd ingredients used in innovative and often bizarre concoctions (ice cream made of raw trout) have moved Iron Chef America to the top of the Food Network's line-up. With that in mind, I decided to conduct a mini version of their weekly program with a handful of local chefs. Granted we were sans tv cameras, the fully-equipped Kitchen Stadium and our time constraints differed slightly (more on that to follow), but it was a challenge for our eager chefs nonetheless.

The premise of Iron Chef America is that chefs are given one hour to develop and prepare five dishes showcasing a “surprise” ingredient. Iron Chef America requires quick thinking, creativity and tremendous skills from each of its contestants, but unbeknownst to the average viewer, it is also a little…