| HOME |
| AMATEUR CHEFS |
| PROFESSIONALS |
| SPONSORS |
| WINERIES |
| TICKETS |
| PRESS RELEASE |
| CONTACT US |
| MAP |
| frequently asked questions | |
What is the event for?
"Guys Can Cook Too!" is a fundraiser for The Rotary Club of Sebastopol Sunrise, which supports local concerns through a
Community Grants Program. For more information about the programs and activities of The Rotary Club of Sebastopol Sunrise, please visit our
website: www.sebsunriserotary.org. Although the event is nominally about "guys cooking", ALL amateur chefs are welcome regardless of gender and age. Professional chefs are
encouraged to participate by helping to judge or by giving demonstrations. What are the competition categories? The four basic food categories are "Openers" (appetizers), "Soups and Salads," "Mains" (main dishes), and "Closers" (dessert). Prizes are be awarded for each category and for best overall dish from both popular voting and a jury of celebrity judges. There will also be special awards for Junior Talent and Best Booth Display. Back to top
Throughout the event, guests vote for their favorite dishes in each food category by depositing tokens in jars at each chef's table. At the end of the evening, the jars are collected and the votes tallied. Several servings are collected from each chef for the celebrity judges to evaluate. The celebrity judges score each dish on taste of food, originality and presentation.
Do I prepare my food at the event? No. Cooking facilities are not available at the event. You will primarily be serving, not cooking at the event. You may choose to cut, garnish, dip,
sprinkle, assemble, etc, but we strongly recommend that you prepare as much as possible ahead of time. How much food do I need to prepare? Frequently there have been over 1000 guests/attendees. Most people don’t taste everything, but some will so be prepared for MANY tasting your entry. You should prepare 400 heaping tablespoon (or sushi bite size) servings of your dish. DON'T PANIC, that's not as much as it sounds. One ounce is only one good mouthful, not a normal serving size. For accurate planning, make one normal batch of your dish just to measure and weigh it. The goal is to find out how many "one-ounce servings" your recipe makes. If the dish is primarily liquid, the process is simple. Get out the measuring cups and measure it. A one-ounce serving is equal to 2 tablespoons or 1/8th of a cup. If your recipe makes 10 cups of stew, that's 80 one-ounce servings. The number of batches of stew required is 400/80, or a little more than 6. If your dish is baked in a pan, remember that a single tasting serving is about 2 tablespoons or about 2 cubic inches (1 x 1 x 2). Then figure out how many tasting serving squares you can cut out of that pan-full. If it's 48 squares per pan, then you need to bake 400/48 or 10 1/2 pans. You should come away from this exercise knowing exactly how many batches of your recipe are needed and exactly what a tasting serving of it looks like. Always round the number of batches required UP and the serving size DOWN. There is a natural tendency to slack off when cooking and pour it on
when serving. Don't. Trying to multiply 8 1/2 batches times 2/3 teaspoons will make you appreciate the metric system. If you get mired in cups and tablespoons, there
are several nice recipe multipliers on-line that can help you with the calculations.
However, in all likelihood, you will not prepare one big 9X batch of your dish. First of all, food doesn't cook the same way in a huge mass as is does
in a small one. Second, you may not have large enough pots and pans. After carefully thinking about the size of your mixing bowls, oven and
refrigerator, you may decide that five double batches of your recipe is easier to manage. Do I need to provide a copy of my recipe? We encourage you to provide us with a copy of your recipe so that it may be included in our future cookbooks. Consider having courtesy copies of your recipe available at your booth. You never know, it might sway a vote or two! Chefs at prior events have printed postcard-size recipe cards and displayed them at their station.
Do I need to bring anything to serve the food? Yes and no. Don't forget to bring whatever knives, spatulas, ladles or tongs you may need to serve your dish. However, small plastic cups and
napkins will be provided for the individual servings. If your dish requires something unusual for the individual serving (skewers, for example) you
should provide your own. Guests will be provided with plates, glasses and eating utensils. How can I keep my food hot/warm/cold? It's best to bring your own ice chests or insulated boxes to hold the food at the desired temperature. A limited number of warming trays and
propane burners are available by advanced reservation. The availability of electricity is extremely limited. What are the Heath and Safety guidelines? Please keep in mind that you will be serving food to the public. If you are not feeling well, please do not prepare or serve food. Be extra careful during preparation to keep all kitchenware and utensils clean and all the foodstuffs properly stored and free from contamination. At the event, cold food should be maintained at 40 degrees or below. Hot food should be maintained at 135 degrees or above. When serving, please use utensils or toothpicks if possible. Please wash your hands often, especially after eating, touching part of your face, coughing or sneezing, smoking or using the restroom. A bottle of sanitizer solution will be provided to each Chef. Please follow proper safety guidelines when preparing and handling food especially when dealing with meats. Enclosed is some information that
we hope will help you in your preparation. You will have a 6-foot table for serving and another 6-foot table behind you for serving preparation. Chefs serving Closers may have less preparation space depending on the final floor plan. Yes. This is recommended especially if you want to step away from your table and sample some of your competitors’ food. You are entitled to bring one (1) sous chef admission free to help you. You and your sous chef must check in at the same time. Because we truly appreciate of your participation, additional tickets can be purchased at a discounted price of $40 each (limit 10). You are responsible for your sous chef knowing health and safety guidelines. When and where, do I show up to set up my table? You and your sous chef must check in at Participant Registration which is located at the north side of the building. Please be prepared for a 15 minute vehicle unloading time limit. This allows for a steady flow of traffic behind you. Don’t worry, unloading assistance will be available to you. At registration, you will receive your name badges and location of your assigned station. Check in time starts at 3:00pm. Event doors open at 5:00pm so you'll need to be ready to start serving by 4:30pm to facilitate event flow, last minute concerns and judging. More information will be provided to you two weeks prior to the event. What's this about decorating my table? Since presentation can be as important as the food itself, you’re encouraged to decorate your table (and yourself). An award will be presented for the best decoration theme. Advertising and the distribution of promotional materials for one's own business is prohibited. Serving winds down around 8:00pm at which time awards are presented. The awards and auction will begin around 8:00 pm. Then it’s time to clean up and be ready to pack up at the end of the event when guests are leaving. Please be sure to check and double check for all the items you brought with you. We can’t be responsible for items left behind.
|
|