None of the four chefs who will take part in this year's Capital Food Fight fundraiser for D.C. Central Kitchen has competed previously for the title. One has never even competed in a similar, pulse-pounding culinary challenge. Another recently battled in a televised cooking competition, which should air this fall. Just don't ask him about it.
"I can't speak about it until they give me permission," says K.N. Vinod, chef and co-owner of Indique in Cleveland Park. Vinod says he signed a non-disclosure agreement that would cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars if he blabbed.
But Vinod can talk all he wants about this year's Food Fight, which takes place on Nov. 12 at the Ronald Reagan Building. Vinod will be battling against Amy Brandwein, chef and owner of Centrolina, Nick Stefanelli, chef and owner of Masseria, and Harper McClure, chef de cuisine at Brabo. They're all competing for the crown for the first time .
Still, there will be familiar faces, such as Anthony Bourdain and Carla Hall, who will serve as hosts again. This year's judges include Spike Mendelsohn (Good Stuff Eatery, Bearnaise), Richard Sandoval (Masa 14, Toro Toro, others) and Food Network host Anne Burrell. A fourth judge will be announced later.
Last year, D.C. Central Kitchen challenged the chefs during their 10-minute battles with a couple of non-traditional secret ingredients, notably Buddha's hand (an Asian citrus fruit with little flesh) and chow-chow (a sweet-hot relish that the non-profit had been selling at select Whole Foods stores).
How does a cook even prepare for such curve balls?
"Sometimes the simpler [ingredients] are more tricky than the weird ones," says Vinod. "My mind, in my experience, goes in 20 different directions" with simpler ingredients.
But here's the real question I want to ask these chefs who, in the marketplace of meals, compete against each other daily for diners: How much do they want to win the Capital Food Fight? Please, no platitudes about, "It's all for a good cause, blah, blah, blah." How much do they want to crush their peers and take home the boxing gloves as champ, like last year's winner, Marjorie Meek-Bradley?
"I want to do the best that I can do [and] put out the best food I can do," says Brandwein, who clearly didn't take the bait. "If I don't win, then that's fine. You want to do the best you can do. It's not about competing against another person, or whatever."
When I tell her that I'd want to win, Brandwein adds: "If you do the best you can do, hopefully you win."
Stefanelli, the former jock at DeMatha Catholic High School, practically champs at the bit, perhaps because he's a rookie to these culinary donnybrooks. "It's competition. You always want to win," says Stefanelli, a former third baseman on the high school team.
Vinod takes the high road with the question.
"Ultimately it's to have fun," he says. "It's a great charity."
Individual $250 tickets to the Capital Food Fight will go on sale in September. The event takes place Nov. 12 in the Ronald Reagan Building.