Student chef part of winning ‘Iron Chef’ team
SEAVILLE – Meet the next celebrity chef! He is destined to be
the next Morimoto or Batali! And he lives right here in Upper
Township! Yes indeed, meet the next Iron Chef: Will Myers!
“I don’t know about all that,” Myers said with a laugh.
Okay, hyperbole aside, the Ocean City High School graduate
(Class of 2004) was part of the winning team at the Feb. 6 Iron
Student Chef competition hosted by Careme’s gourmet restaurant
on the Mays Landing campus of Atlantic Cape Community College.
The 15 students involved took part in the competition sponsored
by the Culinary Student Association at ACCC’s Academy of
Culinary Arts. The students were organized into five teams.
Their mission: to create four dishes, each incorporating a
tightly guarded secret ingredient revealed only minutes before
the start of cooking. The teams were given 10 minutes to create
recipes and 90 minutes to cook.
The secret ingredient to be included in each team’s four dishes,
from appetizers to entrees to deserts: eggplant. The teams were
given several eggplants and a variety of other ingredients and
told to produce two plates for each dish, one for display, the
other for judging.
The first place team included Michael Inferrera, of Millville,
Scott Carlino, of Brick, and Myers, of Seaville. Their menu
included Sea Scallops with Eggplant Strada, Mediterranean Paella
with Eggplant, Veal Siciliano and Roasted Eggplant Napolean,
which was the dish that Myers prepared.
The competition judges were Jonathan Karp ’92 ACA and chef at
New York 151, and Joe Sheridan ’96 ACA and executive sous chef
at Showboat Casino Hotel. ACA Chef Educators Annmarie Chelius
and Jeffrey Phillips judged kitchen sanitation and technique.
Judges awarded up to 10 points each on flavor of the dish,
knowledge of item, presentation, originality and sanitation.
Teams lost 10 points for lateness and 10 points for
unsatisfactory kitchen/lab clean-up.
“They gave us three possible ingredients on the Thursday before
the (Tuesday) competition. We knew it was going to be either
artichokes, fennel or eggplant,” said Myers, who already
completed his two-year cooking degree and is now working toward
a baking and pastry certificate.
“We wanted to pick a total of a four-course meal specializing in
each ingredient. So we went in with an idea of what we were
making no matter what ingredient they chose,” he said. “I’m
studying baking right now so I knew I wanted to prepare the
dessert, but we all made the paella.”
Myers described the “Savory Roasted Eggplant Napoleon”
construction as using “savory whipped fromage, with Parisian
eggplant, placed between hazelnut wafers topped with eggplant
caviar.”
Eggplant caviar?
“I roasted the eggplant, and when you scoop the seeds out, they
look like caviar,” Myers explained.
Patrons at the Stone Harbor County Club might find it on the
menu this spring, when Myers returns to his job as a cook there.
“I’m going to try to get it on the menu. We’ll see,” he said.
Myers began his culinary career in much the same way as many do
at the Jersey Shore.
“My dad basically said it was time for me to get a job. I
started at the Green Grill, then I went to Sea Isle to work for
Jim Henry (Vince’s Restaurant), who taught me a lot, like the
five Mother Sauces (bechamel, veloute, brown or demi-glace,
hollandaise and tomato). He worked with me on the basics. I
learned as much as I could from him before I went to (ACCC),”
Myers said. “Then last summer I ran a place with two others guys
in Avalon called Sorella Rose, and now I’m at the country club.”
Myers said he will get his baking and pastry certificate in May
and will continue his education with hands-on learning.
“I want to keep cooking and someday own my own restaurant,” he
said, “so when I’m done my cooking shifts this summer I want to
learn the business side. How to do payroll, keeping a budget,
ordering…things like that.”
Asked why he returned to ACCC after completing his culinary
degree, Myers said, “I love it. The teachers are awesome. They
not only teach you and train you really well, they always are
there for advice. They’re always saying, ‘Check back with me if
you have a question, or call me if you need anything.’ It’s
great to have those kinds of contacts.”
Myers said the instructors train the students to cook first,
then they work to improve the student’s efficiency in the
kitchen.
“In a restaurant, it’s fast-paced. You need to get the dishes
out and get paid. You can’t take forever on a dish,” he said.
“But at school you can take your time and perfect your craft.
The students are at all different levels (of ability and
experience). In one group, we had a 40-something woman who was
really slow at the beginning. Now she’s a lot faster. When you
get into a restaurant and work on the hotline, speed is
everything.”
Myers said the decision to go to cooking school has made a
tremendous difference in his ability—and marketability.
“It’s amazing how much you learn. Each class is 15 days long and
you take five classes a semester. Two years ago I was learning
sanitation and now I’m making sugar roses,” he said.
Myers said he also learns from the cooking shows. His favorites
are, of course, “Iron Chef America” and “Top Chef.”
“I feel like the more you watch the more you learn. I got hooked
on ‘Top Chef.’ Mike (Inferrera) from my team just went up to New
York to audition for the next ‘Top Chef.’ If I would have known
it was going on I would have went, too,” he said. “When I’m done
here I’ll go back to the country club and continue to work on my
craft and see where it takes me.”
Maybe, just maybe, to the Kitchen Stadium stage where he can take on Iron Chef Bobby Flay!
Rob Seitzinger can be e-mailed
at seitz[at]catamaranmedia.com or you can comment on this story by
calling 624-8900, ext. 250.
Check out his Cape Cuisine food blog