Local Chefs Get Fired Up for Sodexho ‘K.O. in the Kitchen’ Contest

By John Meehan

 
Pans sizzled, mouths watered and stomachs grumbled as chefs from four area schools took up their spatulas for the third round of the second annual “K.O. In the Kitchen” held March 8 at Catholic University’s student restaurant.

“K.O. in the Kitchen,” sponsored by Sodexo, is a cooking competition among the company’s chefs working at area universities. This is the second time Catholic University has taken part in this annual event, and CUA is one of four institutions entered in this year’s competition, which also includes Howard University, Marymount University and Trinity University. 

According to Sodexho spokesperson Bonnie Gordon, “it’s a really fun event, almost like an Iron Chef competition. We always want to make things exciting for the students, and we love to showcase our extremely talented chefs.”

Rules of the 6-week competition are simple – chefs must prepare a complete meal for 500 students in the style of one of four pre-selected cuisines (Italian, Caribbean, Mexican and Asian) at a cost of no more than $2.25 per plate. Every second week, the fares and venues rotate among area universities as chefs have the opportunity to prepare different dishes for new audiences. Students are treated to the cook-off cuisine in lieu of their regular fare, and each student is given one vote to cast via secret ballot for their favorite chef. The chef with the most votes at a given venue is named the winner of that round, and the title of “champion” is awarded to the chef with the most wins at the end of the competition.

The favorite to win the March 8 cook-off was Ezra Countiss (in photo on left), executive chef in charge of all Sodexo operations at CUA. A professional chef with more than 20 years of experience, Countiss had the advantage of preparing his Italian cuisine in front of what he called “a home crowd” of 500 CUA students. Still, home-field advantage did not mean that Countiss would rest on his laurels; he came out “swinging” with fresh caprice salad and a chicken breast cutlet stuffed with spicy Italian sausage. For dessert, Countiss dazzled diners as the flames jumped from the pan of his sizzling fruit dish, Strawberry Kiwi Flambé.

The line at Countiss’ station drew dozens of students at a time as fascinated diners waited patiently and gazed wide-eyed at the culinary display before them. “Can I get two plates?” one student asked, only half-joking.

“Don’t forget one for dessert,” said Countiss. “Life’s too short – eat dessert first!”

At a nearby kiosk, Chef Ed Evans (in photo on left) represented Trinity University. Two weeks earlier, CUA had won the second round of competition held at Trinity – and Evans said he was setting out “to even the score by stealing a win from Catholic on their home field.” Evans, a former Sodexo employee at CUA and now the general manager for dining services at Trinity, said that while he was confident that his Mexican “fiesta” fare offered diners “a simple, quality meal,” a Trinity victory was “a sure thing thanks to the secret weapon” — a dessert offering of Mexican-style bread pudding topped with a chocolate moule sauce.

Looking at Evans’ impressive display of savory beef tacos and black bean fritters served with a generous helping of fresh vegetables and smoked corn salsa — not to mention the bread pudding — one student couldn’t help but sample a bit of everything the chef had to offer. Smiling, he said “Gimme 'the works.' ”

“Sure, you can get ‘the works’ over there — but if you want ‘the best,’ come on over here!” shouted Marcus Worley,

executive chef for Howard University, from behind his neighboring station, which was featuring Carribean fare (far left in photo on left) . Worley’s salesmanship paid off, and two students farther back in Evans’ queue quickly switched lines to sample the Howard University chef’s offering of stuffed rotti with curried beef, Jamaican-style jerk chicken, mashed plantains and a dessert of mint chocolate chip ice cream covered with ripe Caribbean fruits and a sorrel sauce. “[Trinity] just brought the bread pudding as their secret weapon,” said Worley, a former catering chef at CUA, “but we brought everything as ours!”

At the other end of the kitchen, Marymount University executive chef Antonio Garcia (in photo on left) let his presentation do the talking as he served up helping after helping of teriyaki chicken on a long, smoke-filled grill. His sides of shrimp-fried rice certainly didn’t deter customers, but what really helped the Marymount chef attract an audience was what he called his “prime location” right next to the front entrance of the student restaurant. Garcia said he was “an underdog competing in an away game” and that he expected Countiss to win the palates and votes of the CUA crowd. But he added that the competition might have turned out differently were he cooking Caribbean fare, noting that his “ace in the hole” would have been the culinary expertise of his Jamaican wife.

When the votes were counted, Catholic University’s Countiss was declared the victor. Marymount’s Garcia took second place, Howard’s Worley took third and Trinity’s Evans rounded out the group. With victories in two rounds under his belt, Countiss was declared the “K.O. In the Kitchen” champion.

“It’s fun for the students, and it’s exciting for us,” said Countiss. “Plus the winner gets the right to brag to his colleagues in our weekly conference calls once a week for the rest of the year.”

Said Countiss, “that’s the sweetest reward of all.”

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