Tickets SOLD OUT for Shrimp & Grits Throwdown!

If you find you can't make it Monday night and have 2 tickets, my daughter would love to buy them from you!
Please let me know...my cell phone is 558-6084.
Thanks!
Linda B

I just wanted to wish all of the participating chefs "Good Luck". I look forward to seeing all of you this evening. It has all of the makings of a great time!!!

I just wanted to wish all of the participating chefs "Good Luck". I look forward to seeing all of you this evening. It has all of the makings of a great time!!!

Thanks, Dan - but we are going to kick your country-club ass right into the Ohio this time. BOO-YAH!

"pow" "sploosh" "swim" good luck all, it's gonna be fun, finally something where we can wind down and just kick out some comfort food for FEAT

I just got in from the Throwdown, and just wanted throw out a quick Wow, what an event. Thanks to everyone who worked to make it happen. The food was great, and it looked like everyone was having a great time. Congratulations to all the competitors and winners. I should add that when this event was first planned, I would not have imagined I'd spend a good deal of the evening on the deck at Captain's Quarters - the weather couldn't have been better.

Jay, Melissa, and Robin, it was nice to finally meet you in person.

We just got home and the evening was exceptional! It was so much fun seeing our friends from the forum as well as our chef friends! Each of the contestants did their own take on shrimp & grits and it was something to see... how each chef's concept could vary so much in overall flavor as well as it's visual presentation! It was hard to pick a winner...we had it narrowed down to six and struggled to decide on our favorite.
Congratualtions to the winners as well as all of the participating chefs...you out did yourselves!
And Will, I'm so happy it benefited a cause so close to your heart! We know how that feels and how overwhelming the love and support of the restaurant community is when it hits home!

Linda & Mark

I am curious how the judging turned out in the end. Could someone who was there fill me in on who took top honors?

Thanks!

Third place: Jack Fry's

Second place: Corbett's

First place: Windsor's Restaurant (New Albany, old NA Bistro location) - congrats!

People's Choice - Julep's Catering at Sullivan


Brad - why didn't you say hello to me? GRRRR.

Honorable mention from me: L&N's Rick Adams, and frickin' Country Club himself, Dan Thomas did my favorite version of the evening - a shrimp and grits open faced tamale served on a corn husk with mole sauce. It's tempting to think I liked it just because it was in such a different vector of the spectrum from everyone else's, but I gotta say no - it was just delicious all on its own. Props to everyone though. I didn't taste them all, but of the 9 or so I had, there was nothing I would have kicked out of bed on a hungry night.

I am curious how the judging turned out in the end. Could someone who was there fill me in on who took top honors?

Thanks!

My recollection:

Judges' choices:
3rd place - Jack Fry's
2nd place - Corbett's
Winner - Windsor Restaurant

People's Choice: Julep's Catering at Sullivan U

Brad - why didn't you say hello to me? GRRRR.

I didn't see you!

I was the one handing out the samples at the Lou Lou table. Don't tell me you didn't taste ours! I will come over there right now and kick your ass!

I was the one handing out the samples at the Lou Lou table. Don't tell me you didn't taste ours! I will come over there right now and kick your ass!

Oh sheesh, I'm an idiot. This was my first "offline" event with hotbytes. . .

Anywho, we did meet. I did in fact try the Lou Lou grits. If you recall the gentleman that came to the table at towards the end of the event and asked for a second sample to take to his wife, well, I was the guy that was with him. You made a pretty witty crack about candy for a friend that wasn't there. . . In fact I commented to you that I was showing up late to the Lou Lou table because I've had Lou Lou grits 100 times already and know how good they are.

My apologies for not introducing myself. I should have realized that was you, but I just wasn't paying attention. I was a half a bottle of wine in and stuffed like a turkey full of shrimp and grits, so, you know. . .

What an amazing time! We finished the evening chatting in the parking lot with Stephen and Dan....

Everything I tried was wonderful, but then again, I wasn't the one doing the judging....LOVED the "tamale," Marsha's S & G were rocking, hubby loved the quail egg on top of Chris Howerton's entry, I loved the touch of citrus in Dallas & Stephen's entry....

Kudos to Deb, Will and all the others who made this a reality! As an event coordinator - you all did a fabulous job! Great to meet Allen, Heather and Brad from the forum, and to see Richard & Suzi, Linda and Mark, and so many others! Thank you to Mary and Deb who allowed Tom and I to jump back and forth between tables. Thanks to JJ from Louie-FM, and all those who added to the evening's "atmosphere."
What a great night! Let's do it again soon? Creme' Brulee Torch-O-Rama anyone?

What a wonderful evening- it was so good to see everyone and to taste the wide range of what can be done with S&G.
My friend, Deborah, was hoping we could find a salad throwdown after we left- we ended up with some Gilberto Gelato instead. The perfect end to a perfect night.
Congrats to all the chefs who participated, to Deb Hall who put in so much of herself to this project, and to FEAT for giving us such a worthy cause.

Thanks to all of the folks from the forum that came out last night. I do not know for sure how much we made for FEAT but I know that the bar was three and four deep. It was great to see all the restaurants out there last night. Thanks for the time and $ you all put in to it. Thanks to Robin, John Castro, and Dean Corbett for hanging in there and eating all that food. "One thin wafer?" Congratulations to Justin McMillian of The Windsor- 1st place, Chris Howerton of Corbett's -2nd place, Shawn Ward of Jack Fry's 3rd place, and Anthony Lorie of Julep's Catering-peoples choice. Hats off to Alan, Deb and Steve for getting this thing off the ground. A special thanks to the Masterson Family for hosting us last night at CQ. What a great venue. What a blast.