It's a pretty exciting time in Morgantown to be a foodie.
New restaurants are popping up, our culinary horizons are slowly expanding, and a real foodie community has grown - partly due to this new chef's duel/knife fight monthly event.
Table 9 and Atomic Grill formed this competition where two chefs from area restaurants have an hour to create three plates using secret ingredients for a panel of three judges. It's hosted on a Monday night - because that's the off night for the food industry - and it's at 10 p.m. Table 9 usually posts it under their "events" section on their website.
It's really of interest for those involved in the local food scene - you'll see chefs from local restaurants Peppebroni's, Stefano's, Tin 202, Antonio's, Morgantown Brewing Company and more. It's pretty informal and lots of mingling. There's no cover or anything like that, but they have $2 beer specials and $6 wine specials. It's all very informal, but it's also way, way cool.
They just finished up their fourth competition, Antonio's vs. Puglioni's. Here's a rundown of past ones, winners and the secret ingredients.
- Antonio's vs. Puglioni's (Antonio's) - calamari, black lemon
- Hash Browns & New Grounds vs. Stefano’s (HBNG) - chestnuts, quail
- Morgantown Brewing Company vs. Regatta Bar & Grill (Morgantown Brewing Company) - black garlic, preserved Asian meats: cured duck, cured pork belly, dried oyster, dried scallop, dried shrimp
- Atomic Grill vs. Table 9 (Atomic) - zucchini flower, bronzini
Chefs prepare four dishes for each of the three courses for the judges. Attendees can grab a fork and head to the scavenger table, where there's one dish and everyone who wants a bite can dig it. I've yet to brave that, though every course I've seen that comes out always looks amazing.
I wish I would have been smart enough to keep track of all the different dishes that have been made, but clearly I'm not that smart.
But you can live vicariously through these awesome photos.
All photos are by Sher Yip.
