New York Moves’ Personal Chef 5 Competition – fast, furious, and always with a delicious twist. Three news personalities came together and teamed with three Top Chef alumni for the cooking competition that tests wits, skill, detail, and of course, time. The action hit the hot spot and the teams and sponsors were held to professional standards only the James Beard House can supply. In the end food tasting is always subjective but there was one team judged to have come out on top. But for charity events, everyone’s a winner.
Judges
James Beard President Susan Ungaro, Restaurateur & Celebrity Chef Rocco Dispirito,
Rizzoli & Isles’ actor Sasha Alexander, special guest illy Master Barista Giorgio Milos
(with Moves Publisher Moonah Ellison, second from right)
illycafè, along with providing some of the world’s best Arabica coffee blends and roasts grown across four continents, has pioneered some of today’s latest coffee innovations. The modern espresso machine and the world’s first single-serve espresso pods for starters. This year, it was the chefs’ turn to be just as innovative by creating a signature amuse-bouche using illy coffee and their own special ingredient. And to judge the illy-inspired treats? Master barista, Giorgio Milos, illy’s North American Barista in Residence and on faculty at illy’s Università del Caffè. Milos has illy in his blood. His life-long passion for the beverage and company, along with his expertise on everything from how coffee grows to the chemical reactions that “create pleasure in a cup,” all came into play while judging.
Personal Chef ’12
photography by Steve DeCanio