A Law Firm Puts Its Chefs on Trial

At Nixon Peabody, the Women Cook Off Against the Men

Big-time lawyers are pros at waiting for judges' tough decisions, but yesterday afternoon at Nixon Peabody in the District, some may have posted fewer billable hours until results of the firm's 19th annual cook-off were handed down.

The competition pits men against women, which could lead to actionable territory and dangerous stereotyping. Yet, it has helped build camaraderie among all departments, firm employees say, pointing to Nixon Peabody's ranking among Fortune magazine Top 100 Best Companies to Work For, three years running. Still, the trash talk leading up to the cook-off can start two months in advance, when planning meetings and team captains are chosen. Attempts have been made in past years to choose sides differently -- by floor, say, instead of along gender lines. Those negotiations have failed.

Some companies set up tennis or golf tournaments, which can draw more male than female employees. Nixon Peabody's cook-off turns out to attract partners and paralegals alike and is even more popular than the bocce tournaments it has held in the summer.

Not all the women in the firm, which has 216 employees in its Washington office and about 1,725 nationwide, agree on the event's attractions. Women's team co-captain and associate Emily Hargrove, 30, says that although more women than men participate, she still ran into plenty of resistance from women in the firm who said they don't cook; they just make reservations.

"The nice part is, at the end of the judging, everybody eats," said partner Bill Andrews.

Because the office's kitchen spaces do not have ovens, those who signed up to participate had to cook over the weekend and then haul in the goods, along with warming trays, display platters and a few dozen slow cookers. Eighty-five entries in seven categories were vetted for appearance and taste by a panel that included longtime in-house participants, executive chef Douglas Anderson of the Four Seasons Hotel, chef John Koltiskoof the Caucus Room and hospitality directors from the Mandarin Oriental and Four Seasons hotels. The main conference room became an upscale cafeteria for the day, with white tablecloths, special contest place mats and a lineup of dishes that stretched three-quarters of the way around the space.

Anderson was impressed with the look of several dishes, including a Gourmet Magazine-inspired orange crepe gateau and a wine-dark pot of borscht with a heaping bowl of sour cream nearby. "Food can look better than it tastes, sometimes, you know?" he said.

Marketing manager April Stephens scored early points with her nicely seasoned Coffee Jalapeno Braised Short Ribs in the main dish category. But partner John Partigan's swept up with his triple-play combo of Fresh Blackberries Asian Salad (salads, first place), Cauliflower and Caramelized Onion Tart (vegetables, first place, with no tort jokes!) and Shrimp and Scallop Posole (soups and stews, second place).

Chief judge Laurie A. Miller, a partner who's been at the firm for 14 years, kept her plate full yet organized by taking no more than three samples at a time. She and her fellow panel members worked their way through appetizers, Latin cuisine and the other categories in a timely fashion, with lunch lines forming just outside the conference door.

After much tallying and lawyerly revisiting of the rules, the results were Nixon Peabody men, 11; Nixon Peabody women, 10. The coveted best-in-show prize, which went to a SpongeBob SquarePants cake made by 27-year-old office services clerk Penny Young, was deemed ineligible to snag a tie. It should be noted that Nixon Peabody men made that call, based on precedent.

"We've earned a full year of bragging rights," boasted a relieved men's team co-captain, Christian McBurney. None of the 48-year-old partner's three dishes wowed the judges this time around, but he did earn style points by wearing his "lucky" red-checked bib apron all morning. Historically, the men are experiencing a reversal of fortune: "We've taken three of the last five" years, McBurney said. In other words, the women are still ahead overall, at 16 to 3, in a firm of 100 attorneys and 116 staff members.

Hargrove concedes it was a hard-fought battle. "We need to work on our main dishes," she says. "We weren't anticipating such a close contest."

The cook-off's reputation as a morale builder is understandable, but secondary career paths may be forged as a result. "I'd hire the cooks from today in a heartbeat," said judge Michael Deltette, 38, director of catering at the Mandarin Oriental.

The "friendly" match began almost two decades ago with a challenge between now-retired partner Phil Cronin and his secretary, Michelle Anderson, who won the first round. Winners are treated to Williams-Sonoma gift certificates, cookbooks and kitchen-related goodies.