Tim Preston
The Independent
ASHLAND —
I had a great time covering the Chef Challenge on Saturday during the annual Summer Motion festival. I don’t watch food television, so I was quite unfamiliar with the rules of the game.
For me, much of the fun was watching the judges making “Wow, this is really good” facial expressions and “yummy” noises as they sampled their salads and entrees before struggling to make their decision.
The former-student-faces-his-teacher aspect of the contest added a certain spice to the competition as well. Speaking to people who gathered to watch the competition it became evident many on the audience were extremely familiar with the work of both Chef Chris Ross and Chef Scott Sutton.
In my coverage of the event I failed to include comments from Ross, who won the contest. Ross, who is the executive chef at Bellefonte Country Club, said Sutton’s encouragement is the primary reason he became a chef, and he thanked him for being an outstanding instructor.
“It was an honor to go up against him. If not for him, I would probably be a cop right now,” he said with a smile.
Speaking of chefs
We went to Alexander’s at the Plaza Tuesday evening to enjoy some good jazz by saxophonist Jeff Carter, as well as something from the bar and perhaps a light meal by Jeremy Meade, the restaurant’s new chef.
I think the idea of a place to meet friends after work, accompanied by good food, great music and a couple of beverages, had a lot of appeal, based on the number of others who attended the evening’s event. We had planned to make it a “date night” with plans to hold hands and whisper to each other in a dark corner, but ran into a couple of other cool people at the bottom of the stairs and decided to share a table and conversation.
The music was great and I tried something from the bar that I’d never tasted (a hazelnut brandy Alexander). The four of us ordered three different entrees and we all seemed to enjoy our meals. I tried the salmon and found it to be perfectly prepared and delicious.
Wait staff, and Chef Meade himself, made a point of apologizing for the service that evening, explaining they had not expected or planned for the crowd who came to listen to Carter’s musical selections.
As a “hometown boy,” Meade certainly has something to prove in the restaurant at the hotel, citing his pride in the downtown landmark and the responsibility to project a positive image to those whose only exposure to the city comes from their visits and overnight stays there.
Behind the scenes, Meade also has a secret ambition to make his food, entertainment, ambiance and service even better than that of another well-known chef at another Ashland landmark restaurant just a few blocks away on Carter Avenue.
I’ll encourage readers (whose credentials as “foodies” outweigh my own) to visit both places, at least a couple of times, and let me know what you think. Don’t go in with ink pens and notebooks open, just show up as diners who want to enjoy a good meal and an evening out.
Good breakfast
My buddy Ron at Rajah’s Family Restaurant at Meade’s Plaza in Summit has been after me to drop by for a taste of his pork tenderloin and take a sample of his country ham to my wife, who has been craving the old-fashioned super-salty meat in recent weeks.
It was barely still morning when I dragged myself in there on a recent Saturday and I had to start my day with a couple of dozen cups of coffee before I could even think of having a meal. While reviving myself at the coffee counter I had to salute the server on duty who never let my cup get empty, and I also enjoyed a long conversation covering everything from Indian history to global economic concerns and personal security with another fellow (who was quick to praise the quality of pork chops served at Rajah’s).
Ron packaged my breakfast meals (complete with two different types of breakfast potatoes, fried apples and more) as carry-out orders and I served my wife breakfast in bed, reminding her she was on the spot to judge the salt level, texture and flavor of the Rajah’s country ham.
While she had been craving something extremely salty, she didn’t count on the fact she has been systematically eliminating salt from her diet for many months — the country ham was exactly what she was craving, although she was completely unable to eat more than a bite or two because she was sure she could feel her blood pressure rising.
I finished my pork tenderloin and went right to work on her leftover country ham and side dishes, leaving nothing to waste.
TIM PRESTON can be reached at tpreston@dailyindependent.com or call (606) 326-2651.
