A few weeks back, I won tickets to Nashville's Iron Fork's Competition at my school's silent auction. Its our little city's version of Iron Chef, and as an avid food lover, I pounced the second I saw those tickets. We spent the evening watching local chefs go head to head with a mystery ingredient and indulging in all the Nashville restaurants that lined the room with samples for everyone to try.
I quite literally ate one of everything--every restaurant just outdid itself.
The pulled pork + fruit puree combo + crunchy chips made for some of the best nachos ever.
After eating my way through the venue, it was time to watch the chefs get to work! The secret ingredient was maple syrup, and it was so much fun to watch the chefs scheme with each other and figure out how to serve it up for the judges.
We got lucky and ended up standing next to Chef Jamie Watson (of Cafe Fundamental) as he was plating his food. He let us munch on his leftover bits that didn't make the plate and holy.deliciousness. Since I'm sure every other chef's plate tasted just as amazing, I think its fair to say the judges had quite an enjoyable evening.
It was pretty much a [foodie] dream--I left so uncomfortably full and ridiculously happy. Success.