Competition Heats Up at Steak Cook-Off [UPDATED]
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Published on Friday, 11 January 2013 22:42
The Sunshine State Steak Cook-Off has been a fun family event for its first two years. It's still that, of course, with the main objective of everyone participating to have a good time.
But now, it's getting personal. The event Jan. 26 in the Ave Maria town center is drawing teams from as far away as Texas, but several home-grown teams in Ave Maria have their sights not only on winning an honor of being judged the grillers of the best steak in the state of Florida, but besting other teams from around the neighborhood.
For Tim Moore of the team Knights of the Holy Grill, that specifically means beating fellow resident Darryl Klein's High Steaks team.
"Darryl has a way of throwing down the gauntlet in every aspect of life," Mr. Moore said after telling the Collier Citizen that his team's goal was to beat Mr. Klein. "I just wanted to pick it up, so to speak,"
"That's Darryl, doing his job," says High Steaks' Chris Buccheri (left, at last year's cook-off), who said he's not worried about the competition. "To borrow a saying from Italian road racing, what's behind you doesn't matter. The Knights of the Holy Grill might want to pick a more modest goal – like finishing in the top 10."
Although acknowledging that his team finished behind High Steaks last year, Mr. Moore said they've been taking the challenge seriously this year and have been honing their recipe. "We've made a hobby out if it," he said.
"We too, want to beat Darryl Klein," said Martin Doman, whose team Holy Smokes is entered this year as well. "But mainly it's just the thrill of the rush to cook 30 or so steaks for the huge crowds. All of it makes for a great time!"
The steak cook-off has been mushrooming since its debut in 2011, when about 800 steaks were served. Last year, 1,100 were consumed and this year organizer Tom Smith is hoping to satisfy 2,000 people with a 16-ounce rib-eye steak accompanied by a baked potato and salad.
The event is the largest steak cook-off east of the Mississippi, Mr. Smith says.
Before the grills are fired up, there will be many other activities beginning at around 11 a.m. including a "parade of grills," fun family activities and games, and – while the steaks are cooking at 4:30 p.m. – a performance by Casey Weston, a Naples resident who was a finalist in the NBC reality show The Voice.
Competition will be stiff as there are 22 teams entered so far including ones from across Florida as well as entrants from Missouri, Texas and Arkansas. In addition to the Knights of the Holy Grill, Holy Smokes and High Steaks, other Ave Maria teams include one from Ave Maria University, jewelry store owner Alan Beckner, town developers Barron Collier and a team from the local council of the Knights of Columbus.
Judging is completely blind, so there usually are some surprises when the winners are announced. The first year, a team of Ave Maria University students using a backyard grill finished third, beating out much more favored competition that included professional barbecue chefs. (If you're thinking that you, too, can do this, Mr. Smith says that they're still accepting grill team entries. Information is on the event's website, which is linked at the end of this story.)
The steak dinner is served beginning at 5:30 p.m. and costs $18 for the meal, with proceeds benefiting a scholarship program for Immokalee students to attend the Rhodora Donahue Academy in Ave Maria. Purchase of a dinner is not required to enjoy the other activities, which are free.
The Knights of the Holy Grill appear ready to stop at nothing in their quest. Pictured at right is Roseanne Buccheri sampling steak grilled by Mr. Moore.
Jeff Ball, the Grand Knight of the Ave Maria council, is looking forward to the event but laments the fact that Mr. Buccheri – who is a Knight – is competing against his brother Knights. "I'm searching for some kind of by-law that would bring Chris back into the fold – after all, one of the Knights' principles is 'unity.' I do this not because we're worried about him as a competitive griller – but because we like him and don't want to see him embarrassed by his expected performance."
One local resident thinks that Mr. Ball is right to focus on Mr. Buccheri.
"I don't know why Tim Moore is so worried about Darryl -- Chris does all the work while Darryl just relaxes with a beer," he quipped.
Tickets for the steak dinner can be purchased in advance at the event's website here, which also has more detailed information on entering and a full schedule.
Click here for a story and pictures of last year's steak cook-off.
