DMI’s employee grilling competition, Tech Chef, was held Thursday, May 2nd at the company’s headquarters in Bethesda, Md. The event began last year, at the suggestion of a DMI team member, and was based off the hit show Top Chef. Five teams, each comprised of four DMI employees, competed for a chance to take home the second annual Tech Chef Champion title along with a grill for each member of the winning team. Teams prepared an appetizer, entrée, and dessert for a panel of judges. Bethesda-based Chef Michael Harr, of Food, Wine & Co., served as this year’s Tech Chef celebrity judge. As event judges and DMI employees sampled dishes, they placed votes for their favorite selections through DMI’s custom Tech Chef mobile app.
The contestants were given an hour to prepare their dishes and were surprised with three secret ingredients on competition day. These ingredients, which needed to be creatively incorporated into the menus, included: tomatoes in the appetizer, avocado in the entrée, and peaches in the dessert.
Contestants were judged on presentation, creativity, taste, and use of the secret ingredient. This year’s winning team prepared:
- A Central American and Caribbean inspired appetizer, which consisted of a concoction of fresh shrimp tacos paired with an avocado salsa.
- A Middle Eastern and Mughal fusion inspired entrée of chicken marinated in thirty different spices and served with avocado infused tabouille and naan.
- For dessert, an Amontadillo spiked syllabub, topped with a peachy surprise was presented.
DMI’s team enjoyed beautiful weather and delicious food, and once again requested an event encore. Winning team member Alex Vanjani had this to say about his win, “I had a great time competing and can’t wait to defend our team’s title again next year!” Alex’s sentiment was mirrored by his DMI colleagues, who are all looking forward to DMI’s 2014 Tech Chef!
