Event: Landry's Iron Chef Competition

It was a setup for the ages in a Commercial Kitchen in the Galveston Island Convention Centre at the San Luis Obispo Resort on the Seawall in Galveston.  A group of executive chefs from the Landry's Family of Restaurants Gathered together to produce a series of appetizers, salads, sides, main dishes and desserts for a group of judges to sample and rate, as well as for a group of food bloggers and media types hanging in to kitchen to sample.  Hell, even the chefs were sampling each other's' work as the plates came out.  One plate hit the tasting table every 8 minutes.  Very little, if anything was leftover on the plates.  I was one of the fortunate few foodbloggers/media types to be in that kitchen to watch the creatively organized chaotic food frenzy that Group 1 was running out for us.

Shrimp Boudin, Duck Spring Rolls, Grilled Squid,
Shrimp Diablo

Since it was a Landry's even, there was plenty of seafood--salmon, sea bass, grilled squid,  hog snapper and shrimp.  There was also duck served in Spring Rolls and roasted.  There was prosciutto wrapped shrimp.  There was shrimp risotto.  Each of us got to taste one or two spoon or forkfuls of each masterpiece as it hit the table.  And yes there was spillage.  I have a few stains on my shirt to prove it!  It was the Food Brawl on the Sea Wall, ladies and gentlemen!!!

I ran into Michael Maddux from The Mighty Rib , another reporter I'd met from the Galveston Daily News, and a local Sports DJ who does a food show every Saturday.  We had some fun talking shop (aka FOOD) as we sampled the dishes and proffered our comments on them.  Personally I thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the stages of creation as Chefs chopped, pounded, fried, simmered, sauced, glazed and plated all kinds of dishes.  It was like being in the middle of an episode of chopped or Hell's Kitchen, but with less cussing and more happy eating.  That works just fine for me.

Below, you will see a nice batch of collages of food and folks.  Feast your eyes on the food.

Hatsu Tuna in corn sauce, smoked Chicken Salad,Shrimp Salad, Roast Duck Leg, Salmon

Buckeye Dessert, Strawberry
Petit Fours, Cajita Caramel Ice
Cream on Sweat Potato
Pound Cake

In closing I want to add this:  some folks do not like chain restaurants, and if that's your preference, I understand.  However, as a food blogger and a food lover all my life I can tell you this:  not all chains are bad--some, like Landry's, are quite good and make good quality food.  Not all local places are good either.  I have been to several local places that ranged from "Meh" to "God-awful" but I don't blog about that stuff because I only want to share what I think is good, in my humble opinion.  Landry's is definitely one of the good ones, and they work with A LOT of local suppliers of seafood, fruits and vegetables, helping provide them needed revenue and income.  They've also invested HEAVILY in the Houston area--look at the Kemah Boardwalk and the Galveston Pleasure Pier as examples.  They may be a chain, but they are strongly committed to developing the local economies where they operate, and that is worth a lot from where I sit.

Thanks to the Landry's Family of Companies and Katelyn Roche for inviting me to observe this event from within the kitchen.  I also want to thank all the Chefs for putting up with our presence in their collective kitchen.  It was a pleasure to watch them create some really fabulous dishes.  This event was A LOT of fun on several levels!

And remember to Eat Happy, Y'all!!!
早安，你们!!!