West Side Wins: Chef's Challenge Heat 3 Wrapup

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Chef's Challenge: Heat 3

Food and Drink

The third week of the Chef’s Challenge proved to be one of the most interesting matchups yet. The East vs West Battle (respectively featuring teams from Pomodoro's vs. The Admiral) produced what may have been the strongest set of dishes the competition has seen so far. And in the end, only 13 points (out of a total 12,451) separated the two teams. To say it was close, is an understatement; for you budding mathematicians, the victory margin was about two-tenths of a percent.

To view a gallery of the evening, visit Camilla Calnan's website.

The winning team in this apple-themed contest hailed from West Asheville’s best-kept dining secret, The Admiral. The staff has already made a name for itself through fun and somewhat experimental dishes that constantly defy what you might expect out of such a casual eatery. (For instance, they showed up at the preview party serving something called popcorn soup, which was a defiantly buttery cream bisque with chunks of crab meat). And in Round Three, they did not disappoint, creating one extremely rich dish that delivered almost every edible part of the a pig you can imagine (including a foamy topping they called “pork foam”) in a single serving, and then followed up with an apple cobbler plate that somehow managed to successfully combine pan-fried cheddar cheese and peanut butter.

One thing that should be noted, is that there was no way to guess which team cooked each dish. In other words, the Italian/Greek restaurant prepared nothing that seemed overtly Italian or Greek. They opened the night with a very popular apple-tarragon haddock sausage dish that many diners wrongly assumed was from The Admiral, and then followed up with a serving of braised chicken that earned the highest points of the evening. On any other night, against any other team, Pomodoro's could have likely won their heat. We raise our forks in salute to their effort.

Here’s a list of all the dishes prepared by each team:

Team The Admiral’s Dishes
Duck breast and duck confit, served with apple chevre, arugula hazelnuts, and parsnips

Pork tenderloin and pork belly, served with apple chutney, bacon, farro, apple butter

Apple cobbler, cheddar biscuit whipped cream, peanut butter

Team Pomodoros’ Dishes
Apple-tarragon haddock sausage with truffled white asparagus mousse arugula, salted caramel.

Braised chicken seasoned with ras el hanout, served with apple butter mushrooms, potatoes and canelli beans

Orange-scented wildflower and honey-soaked semolina cake, served with lavender-apple sabayon orange tears.