Business & Tech

Chefs Battle for Bragging Rights in 'Chopped' Competition

The competition reached a boiling point when two chefs from The Chopping Block showed off their skills in a popular Food Network-style cooking competition.

Lincoln Square’s cooking school was transformed into a competition arena Saturday, as two chefs turned up the heat in The Chopping Block’s kitchen. 

Modeled after the Food Network’s “Chopped” show, the chefs were given 30 minutes to create a dish based on mystery ingredients revealed only seconds before the clock started.

A crowd of 20 gathered around chefs Carrie Bradley and Quincy Bissic as they made a meal out of fennel, orange, a rack of lamb and the curveball, Raisin Bran. 

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“Was I nervous? Yea, you could say I was a little nervous,” Bissic said. “It didn’t help that my best friend and partner were standing right behind me; I kept losing focus with people asking questions.”

The two chefs explained their techniques while cooking their dishes, adding a teaching component to the competition. Patrick Forester and Jennifer Rozman, managers at the Lincoln Square and Merchandise Mart Chopping Block locations, judged the competition. 

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With perfectly-cooked lamb and a dynamite fennel and orange salad, Bradley took home the win. The chef crusted her lamb with the Raisin Bran and fennel seed and added raisins, onion and orange zest to cous cous.

“I’ve never been one for competitions, but I’m so energized, I’m ready to go again,” she said after the win.

Bissic’s second-place dish included a hazelnut and Raisin Bran-crusted lamb with rice pilaf flavored with red pepper, orange zest, onion, cumin and coriander. A sauce with fennel, onion, brandy and cream finished the meal. 

Though the two are good friends at The Chopping Block, Bissic said he’s ready for another round.

“It’s on,” he said. “This time it’s personal.” 

The competition, the first of its kind, was part of the cooking school’s knife trunk show Saturday afternoon.


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