At TASTE, we celebrate the hard work and dedication of our talented employees. As a way of encouraging our team members to share their passion and creative energy, our parent company, Compass Group, created the Be-A-Star Program, promoting a consistent standard of excellence.
As part of the Be-A-Star program General Manager Kristin White cooked up a team-building employee recipe contest! We want to share with you what we’re doing behind our closed ‘kitchen doors’!
Our employees sent their favorite family recipe to our judges and on Tuesday, March 27th, 2012 the top 5 finalist went head to head in our kitchen! And get this- to make this competition more interesting, the identities of our finalists were kept a secret from the judges, Executive Restaurant Chef Craig Hetherington and Executive Catering Chef Paul Rosquita, until they made their final decision. The winner was based on taste and presentation.
Catering Server, Elisa Gomez, won the overall “Best Sweet” Dish & TASTE Bartender, Tiffany Friday, won “Best Savory” and “Best In Show” dish, making Tiffany the overall winner in our first ever Recipe Contest!
1lb Ahi belly
½ cup lime juice
2 seeded and diced tomatoes
½ small red onion thinly julienned
1 diced cucumber peeled and seeded
1 cup coconut milk, “canned is ok, fresh is better”
1 ½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon Chinese chili “any sweet dried chili will do.”
Thinly sliced green onion for garnish, sliced and curled in ice water
Chop the tomatoes, cucumber and onion and set aside. Dice the Ahi and place in bowl, add lime juice and salt, toss and leave the fish to marinate for about three minutes. In a separate bowl add coconut milk and whisk vigorously to make it frothy and thick. Pour out half of the marinating liquid from the fish and add the vegetables and coconut milk. Toss and plate, add the Chinese Chili and green onion to top of dish before serving.
What was her story behind the family’s recipe?
“This recipe was passed down from our dear friend John to my husband. This dish is what John would order for lunch when he did his culinary studies in Fiji. Poisaint Cru was one of the first dishes that my husband made for me when we were first dating. Our dear friend John was quite instrumental in our courtship and unfortunately passed away one year after we were married. To this day this dish holds a special place in our family’s heart”.
What did Tiffany Win? She received: Bragging rights- of course, her recipe featured on TASTE’s menu for one week, a gift certificate to Sur La Table in addition to some other fun goodies!
We’re thrilled to share our team building activity with you and show how they are successful at creating a great work environment!
Many thanks to our hard working TASTE employees – we appreciate your work and dedication.
Thanks to everyone that participated: Catering Server; Elisa Gomez (Capirotada- Mexican Bread Pudding), Bartender, Tiffany Friday (Possion Cru), Director of Events; Anna Bazzi (Pasta With Chanterelle Mushrooms), Host; Carlee Kremer (Blueberry French Toast), Server; Jen Doak (Chili Egg Puff)
