It started with a goat in a ballroom.

Mind you, the goat was very much alive. And the ballroom was located in Half Moon Bay’s Ritz-Carlton, one of the Bay Area’s most elegant hotels.

But the sudden appearance of the creature was purely by design. And during the next hour, the standing-room-only crowd witnessed a culinary “Battle of the Sexes” – and, the use of a special ingredient that undoubtedly made everyone’s new four-legged friend proud.
      
      

The secret ingredient, goat cheese from Harley Farms in
Pescadero, was escorted into the room by
"Princess Peanut Butter," who agreed to an interview
by Master of Ceremonies, Liam Mayclem.
On October 29th, the Ritz wrapped up its second-annual “Inside the Kitchen” celebration of food and wine. The weekend-long event (a benefit for Meals on Wheels, which delivers nutritious meals to housebound seniors in San Francisco) saw hundreds of guests sharing a dizzying array of dinners, cooking classes, and presentations by world-class chefs and master sommeliers. From the black-tie opening-night gala, in which six Las Vegas celebrity chefs cooked up palate-pleasing creations as TV cameras rolled in the hotel ballroom, to courses as varied as how-to’s for preparing haute French cuisine and the ultimate hamburger, the weekend’s slate of activities was eclectic and rich.

By Sunday evening, it would seem that participants could barely look at another morsel of fabulous food, let alone sample it. But nearly 1,000 eager foodies packed the ballroom one last time to take in the “Chef’s Challenge,” a contest that pitted a team of female chefs, Elizabeth Falkner of Citizen Cake and Fifth Floor’s Melissa Perello, against a pair of their male counterparts, Gerald Hirigoyen from Piperade and Laurent Manrique of Aqua – all based in San Francisco.

Each team was responsible for preparing, plating, and serving a three-course meal to a team of judges that included chef Shirley Fong-Torres and Robert Bath, M.S. (appetizers); Gene Burns, host of KGO Radio’s “Dining Around,” and Christian Rassinoux, executive chef of the Ritz-Carlton in Laguna Nigel (entrées); and George McNeill, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company’s corporate executive chef, and Jean Banchet, French Master Chef (desserts).

There was one small catch: In addition to the staples provided to each team, every last one of the courses had to include the same secret ingredient. And so with a flourish, KPIX-TV’s Eye on the Bay’s Liam Mayclem, host of the event, opened the ballroom door – and in strolled the goat.
      
      
Laurent Manrique and Gerald Hirigoyen strategize
and select which ingredients they
might use prior to the competition.

Strapped to its collar were generous bundles of the mysterious element: goat cheese produced by Pescadero’s Harley Farms. This company’s nationally award-winning cheese is produced on San Mateo County’s only farmstead dairy, just inland from the Pacific Ocean (Harley Farms also hosted a special tour for “Inside the Kitchen” participants earlier in the day.)

To be sure, goat cheese is not the easiest thing to integrate into a meal. In the wrong quantity, it can quickly overwhelm the other ingredients. Worst case, it can turn an otherwise glorious creation into a gloppy, gooey mess. But under the very discerning eye of the four chefs (plus the single assistant allotted to each team), there was little need for concern. Instead, after what appeared to be the briefest of consultations, the men and women set to work.

On the ladies’ side, an array of gorgeous plates quickly began appearing. For the first appetizer, Perello and Falkner created goats’-milk ricotta gnocchi, with porcini and chanterelle mushrooms, pumpkin, rosemary-browned butter and pumpkin seed oil vinaigrette. Appetizer number two consisted of fried feta with roasted eggplant caponata and chive vinaigrette. For their entrée, the pair devised a chicken roulade stuffed with goat cheese, leeks, and Meyer lemon, along with apple, Swiss chard, and bacon.

Though the ladies had only minutes to put their dessert together, they managed to turn out a chocolate and goat cheese cake with cinnamon and honey, served with goat cheese ice cream featuring hints of nutmeg and black pepper. For extra credit, they tossed in a flute of vanilla-bean goat cheese milk with saffron marshmallows and a spoonful of melted chocolate.

Not to be outdone, the men first presented the judges with their appetizer, a duet of fist-sized sea scallops (marinated and seared), accompanied by lentil salad and herb goat cheese "cervelle de canut." Next on the menu was a whole roasted squab with goat cheese, accompanied by blood sausage "parmentier" and a port reduction sauce.

Perhaps fearing the competition from the women, Manrique and Hirigoyen outdid themselves with the desserts, creating four for the judges to savor. Artfully arranged on the final plate were roasted pears with honey, thyme, and Meyer lemon jelly, a pear salad with mint and honey, small, perfect beignets accented with blackberry dots, and a sweet vanilla and goat cheese quenelle.

Keep in mind, all four of the chefs conceived, assembled, prepared, and plated every menu item in sixty minutes flat. And you thought trying to decide between pasta and hot dogs for the kids was tough . . .

The action was brisk and tense, with both teams wringing every last bit of productivity out of the hour. Case in point: The ever-chatty Mayclem sauntered up to Falkner and asked, “What’s your biggest challenge in this competition?” Without taking her eyes off of her knife while swiftly slivering the mushrooms, Falkner unhesitatingly replied “You.”
      
      

Elizabeth Falkner takes goat cheese back to the Ladies' kitchen.

 

Despite Mayclm’s persistent questioning, all four kept the “identity” of their finished plates a secret. Several video cameras picked up the frenzied action, which was then delivered to a number of large screens placed around the ballroom. All the while, surrounding the teams on all sides, the audience was treated to a truly heavenly concert of aromas.

Precisely one hour after the clock started, the final bell rang. The by-now-salivating crowd watched as the judges tucked into their specific plates, and marked their scorecards. Each team was judged on creativity, taste, and presentation (oh, to have that job!); it’s a credit to the talent of the chefs that nary a single nibble was left anywhere on any of the judges’ plates.

When the votes were tallied, both teams earned kudos from the expert panel: the ladies took top honors for their entrée, while the men got the judges’ thumbs-up for their appetizers and dessert. Cumulatively, that put Hirigoyen and Manrique over the top in the point-count . . . and gave them bragging-rights until next year’s competition.

After the trophies were distributed, the assembled crowd dispersed into the adjoining hallways and patio area, where the “Grand Tasting” awaited them. This elaborate buffet offered a sampling of tastes from numerous Bay Area restaurants, as well as creations from Ritz-Carlton chefs based at properties throughout the country. Among those doing the cooking honors were Jeffrey Cerciello, executive chef at Bouchon in Yountville; Didier Labbe, chef/owner of San Francisco’s Clementine; Frederic Morineau, executive chef at the Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota; Franck Ouvrad, executive chef at Garcon in San Francisco; and Jacques Sorci, executive chef at the Ritz-Carlton, Battery Park, New York.
      

      
Laurent Manrique and Gerald Hirigoyen celebrate their win with
their assistant, Micah Lee of The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay

Nine wineries also were on hand to share their best vintages, including Morgan Vineyards, Freeman Vineyard and Winery, Favia Erickson, Fort Ross, and Sequoia Grove.

One of the evening’s biggest crowd-pleasers: the gourmet chocolates from Norman Love Confections of Fort Meyers, Florida. Hand-painted in a rainbow palette that would thrill the most dedicated art-lover, these lovely creations are available in every possible flavor, such as pina colada, pink lemonade, pumpkin, pistachio truffle, mimosa, and mojito. Take it from us: their rich, sinful dark chocolates are worth every bit of guilt you might feel the day after consuming a few.

When all was said and done (and eaten), the happy crowd dispersed into the cool October night; the luckiest attendees wandered off to their luxury accommodations on the property. Without a doubt, the female chefs are already plotting to win back the trophy from the men next year … and really get their goat.