The Big West Conference held southern California Basketball Media Day at the ESPN Zone in Anaheim but added a twist to the preseason event - a Cooking Challenge involving the men's and women's head coaches from Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Northridge, Long Beach State, UC Irvine and UC Riverside.
Bob Burton and Marcia Foster of Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Northridge's Bobby Braswell and Staci Schulz, Dan Monson and Jody Wynn of Long Beach State, UC Irvine's Pat Douglass and Molly Goodenbour, and Jim Wooldridge and John Margaritis of UC Riverside convened at the ESPN Zone today to participate in the Big West's version of Top Chef. All five teams were challenged to create two pasta dishes that a panel of judges rated on Best Taste, Best Creativity and Best Presentation.
The three judges were Tom Keaveny, head chef of the ESPN Zone of Anaheim; David Dekkar, executive chef for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim; and Marcia Smith, a sports columnist for the Orange County Register.
After Chef Tom debriefed the coaches on contest rules and allowed them to survey the ingredients, the teams went to work in a staggered format.
UC Riverside went first, followed by Cal State Northridge, Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State and UC Irvine.
The teams first had to recreate a dish that Chef Tom demonstrated for the group and then had open season on creating their own culinary delight for the second dish.
Olive oil, broccoli, rigatoni and alfredo sauce were among the ingredients that flew in all directions as the coaches set off to create their dishes.
In the end, Cal State Fullerton's Foster and Burton made off with the lion's share of the awards. It was Foster's "Smokin' Chokin' Chicken" that ended up being the main hit with the judges and assembled crowd of school administrators and boosters. The dish included garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic butter, mushrooms, chicken, broccoli and rigatoni.
The CSF tag team won Best Presentation and Best Taste, and also were designated Top Chefs.
Burton seemed to be a bit skeptical on the first trip up to the awards podium when CSF received the Best Presentation award. "This feels like a tournament where you're already guaranteed three games," he said. "We think this was the consolation award."
Oh ye of little faith. Burton and Foster proceeded to make two more trips to the podium. Upon earning the Best Taste award, Burton deadpanned, "This could be more wins than we get all year." Foster echoed the sentiment, saying "I hope this translates to more wins on the court."
The Best Creativity award went to Braswell and Schulz of Cal State Northridge. Pointing to the sheer strategic nature of his dish presentation, Braswell revealed that his secret to winning was "I took whatever possible to fit in the pan and threw it in the pan."
"I thought he did a fabulous job," said Schulz, nodding in appreciation.
Dekkar praised Braswell for the effort. "I think it was the way he threw it in the pan and hoped for the best. That's creativity at its finest."
In a controversial decision, the final award of the day went to Wooldridge and Margaritis of UC Riverside for the much maligned "Kitchen Nightmare."
The team receiving the lowest scores of the competition were sauteed in ignominy. But they made off like bandits in the prize category. Among the gifts included a book entitled "Anyone Can Cook," two Easy Bake ovens, a set of pots and pans, and two fire extinguishers.
Wooldridge stated defiantly, "This is better than those medals."