Nibbles of Tidbits, a Food Blog

After watching the Ultimate Fighting Championship for the first time, I feel better trained to experience Sunday Night Chef Fights, although not like UFC at all, but more like Chopped, though you never know what will happen.  It could get out of control.  I hope so.  Food fight.  This Sunday I’ll be watching, tasting and judging a Chef Fight, another first — And you can too.  For more information, see the official press release posted below.

SUNDAY NIGHT CHEF FIGHTS RETURN TO THE O.C.
AS SMITH-ROSALES DEFENDS TITLE AGAINST BELLAZZI

After claiming the coveted title of Champion Chef of Orange County at the February Orange County Sunday Night Chef Fight, Chef Lindsay Smith-Rosales is ready for her first title defense against Chef Nicola Bellazzi at the next Orange County Sunday Night Chef Fight cooking competition, live Sunday, May 15th at 6:00 p.m. at the Standards of Excellence showroom in Huntington Beach.

Chef Smith-Rosales, chef/owner of the Nirvana Grille with locations in Laguna Beach and Mission Viejo, will have to bring her A-game if she wants to defeat her confident challenger Chef Bellazzi, chef/owner of Enne Cucina Italiana in San Clemente, in this high-stakes live cooking competition where the local audience gets to serve as judge, jury, and taste-cutioner. 

Each Sunday Night Chef Fight is a fast-paced, no-holds-barred culinary showdown similar to popular cooking competition shows on TV, but with a few extra twists thrown in. Before each event, both chefs are given three base ingredients, a protein, vegetable, and grain/starch/dairy item that must be included in their creations, a shopping allowance, and a week to plan and prep their dishes for the sixty members of the audience jury. Then, during the Sunday Night Chef Fight itself, each chef and his or her sous-chef will have only 30 minutes to cook and finish samples of each dish for the entire audience as well as incorporate a mystery ingredient into the mix while host Chris Kern peppers him or her with questions.

The audience then gets to sample each dish, rate each chefs creations in three categories, and determine who will receive the Sunday Night Chef Fight trophy, the title of Champion Chef of Orange County, and the opportunity to defend his or her title against a new local chef challenger at the next Orange County Sunday Night Chef Fight at the Standards of Excellence showroom on Sunday, August 7th.

Each Sunday Night Chef Fight also includes on the undercard Vino Vidi Vici, a blind wine tasting competition in which all audience members taste three themed but unlabeled wines, select a favorite, and then have the opportunity to purchase either the winner or the wines they liked best. The name and varietal of each bottle will be revealed over the course of the Chef Fight.

Tickets are currently on sale at SundayNightChefFights.com for the Orange County Sunday Night Chef Fights, which starts promptly at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 15th at the Standards of Excellence showroom in Huntington Beach. The Standards of Excellence showroom is located at 16001 Gothard Street in Huntington Beach. General Seating tickets are $50 per person, which includes the two-hour cooking competition, samples of both chef’s creations, and one pour of each of the three Vino Vidi Vici wines.

A limited number of VIP Front Row seating tickets are also available for $75 per person, which includes priority service, larger portions of each chef’s creations, two pours of each Vino Vidi Vici wine, and the best seats in the house. For more information on Sunday Night Chef Fights, visit SundayNightChefFights.com or e-mail nicky@cheffights.com.