Executive chef at Revolve Kitchen & Brew Sean Butler wins Iron City Chef 2017
To say that this year's annual Iron City Chef winner was a close call would be an understatement. Iron City Chef winner Sean Butler, who is the executive chef at Revolve Kitchen & Brew in Hoover, beat out Ben Vaughn, the executive chef at Inverness Country Club in Hoover, by a mere two points from the judges.
The 2017 Iron City Chef competition, hosted by the Vestavia Hills Rotary Club, took place on Saturday, July 22, from 6-9 p.m. at the Culinary & Hospitality Institute at Jefferson State Community College.
The event is Vestavia Hills Rotary Club's biggest fundraiser, and event chair Kent Howard said that this year was no different. The event brought in over $18,000 for the organization, as well as provided a $1,000 scholarship for culinary school to the winning chef's sous chef.
"All the chefs did a great job," Howard said. "I heard all night everybody really enjoyed everything that the chefs created and served up."
The other two competing chefs were Brittany Garrigus, pastry chef at Satterfield's Restaurant in Vestavia Hills, and Alan Nelson, executive chef at Nabeel's Cafe & Market in Homewood.
The event began with a silent auction at 5:30 p.m., and continued with wine tasting throughout the course of the night, as well as an extensive tray of cheese, crackers and fruit. After that, guests were invited to the seating room, where the four chefs occupied each of the corners with their prepared dishes. People could come and go as they pleased to the four stations to try the main dish and main desert by each of the chefs.
Howard said the event is "all hands on deck" for the Jefferson State culinary program. Each chef had four to six culinary students that worked with each of the chefs to prepare the food throughout the day and during the event.
About 300 people showed up to the annual event this year, Howard said.
"Cooking has become a big thing in the last couple of years," Howard said. "The big publicity and popularity started years ago when people were fascinated by chefs competing with one another and going against one another. That has grown in popularity."
After everyone tried the various dishes, they cast their vote for who they thought were the top two chefs. This year, the vote was cast for Butler and Vaughn. Following the announcement, the two chefs competed for the top spot with the help of one randomly picked Jefferson State sous chef student each. The kitchen in which they competed was windowed, where the audience could watch. A few people were even allowed to sit in the kitchen during the 30-minute competition.
Butler and Vaughn were each required to make a pork dish using only the supplies and food that was placed beforehand in the kitchen. Three judges then graded the chefs on various aspects of the meal, including taste and presentation.
This year's sponsors included Western Market, the Culinary & Hospitality Institute at Jefferson State Community College and Alabama's Channel 13.
Stay tuned for next year's Iron City Chef competition.