By David Rogers. February 1, 2012. BLOWING ROCK – Fire on the Rock patrons didn’t have to do any bottom-feeding Wednesday night at Crippens, even though the second preliminary of North Carolina’s premier competition dining event featured catfish. By all reports, the Green Park Inn’s James Welch and Westglow Resort's Nate Curtis left no palate unsatisfied. Photos by Amanda Fife Lugenbell

In the tightest scoring yet, former Fire on the Rock champ Welch and challenger Curtis came up with some wonderful culinary creations.

The Courses:

• FIRST COURSE (Curtis): Citrus Cured Catfish, with pickled onions, roasted garlic bacon aioli, house made cracker, and orange balsamic reduction.
• SECOND COURSE (Welch): Braised Catfish, with shrimp, calamari, tomato, garlic, shrimp essence, and roasted pepper aioli.
• THIRD COURSE (Curtis): Cornmeal Crusted Catfish, with herb grit cake, catfish red pepper broth, herb oil, rutabaga chips, tomato caper relish
• FOURTH COURSE (Welch): Catfish Crusted Petite Filet, with asparagus, fresh mozzarella gratin, catfish beurr blanc, merlot sauce
• FIFTH COURSE (Curtis): Soy Glazed Catfish, with vanilla-basil sorbet, tomato gastrique, current pineapple sauce, catfish fume, catfish snow
• SIXTH COURSE (Welch): Sweet Catfish Napoleon, with roasted pineapple, honey pomegranate puree

After the scores were announced revealing Welch as the winner, Blowing Rock News randomly performed exit interviews of some of the dining patrons as they left the restaurant. A common observation from the sample was that while the respondents could not really argue with the decision for Welch as the winner, several noted that the Rowland’s chef was “more creative.”

In an exclusive interview, Curtis noted, “At Rowland's (Westglow), we tend to do things that are more eclectic than most restaurants, maybe even avant-garde. For this kind of event, some of what we did tonight may have been overcomplicated with its intricacy. All of us on the Rowland’s team have participated in this event under the former executive chef for the last four years, so there is very little that surprised us. But eclectic is what we do, and what our customers expect from us. We may have gotten scored down for being too far 'out there.'

“James did a fabulous job,” Curtis continued. “ Two of our team, including myself, worked for James at one point in our careers, so that made tonight’s competition just that much more fun.”

In assessing the catfish as the secret ingredient, “The product itself was great, but I haven't really worked with catfish at Rowland’s."

“I was really hoping that the secret ingredient would not be a protein,” the Westglow chef explained. “It poses a more significant challenge when it is, because then it pretty much has to become more of a focus for each dish. So you have less of an opportunity to show how the ingredient can be used in different ways (across a spectrum of proteins).”

Former champion of Fire and the evening’s winner, the Green Park’s Welch had the two highest-scoring dishes of the evening, as well as the lowest. “The catfish crusted steak and the dessert won if for us,” Welch told Blowing Rock News in detailing what set his team’s work apart. “I think I would have won all three, except the (catfish) with the shrimp and the broth was cold. That took away some points.”

Welch told Blowing Rock News that he really likes the format changes. “I like the fact that now it is totally blind, because you get to come in and actually show your skills.  You come into it not knowing anything. You don’t know what the dry (stores) are going to be like. You didn’t know what the produce is like. And of course you dodn’t know anything about the proteins or what the secret ingredient is. In the past, you could bring $100 worth of things in a secret bag. That is eliminated this year.  All you can bring is your utensils, any special equipment that you want, and your knives.

“For me,” Welch added, “knowing that I was going against Westglow and Nate, guys that have worked for me before, I was really excited about it.”

In assessing the catfish, the Green Park chef admitted, “The catfish was good. I am not a catfish lover, but it worked for me.”

Welch noted that most of the time you have to do a dessert, so incorporating catfish into a dessert posed a special challenge. “Last year our secret ingredient was country ham, and we didn’t do enough (to offset the product’s inherent saltiness).”

This year, Welch redefined "rebound": his Sweet Catfish Napoleon was the second highest-scoring dish of the evening, capturing 73.9% of all possible points.

“We’ve had two exciting evenings of competition dining,” host and emcee of Fire on the Rock, Jimmy Crippen, told Blowing Rock News as the preliminary came to a close. “Last night we had a newcomer upset the champion with some marvelous work.  Tonight we had a close competition with a former champion edging out his former protégés.  But the real winners in both cases were the dining patrons, because over the two nights they got to experience four of the High Country’s absolute finest chefs perform their culinary magic in ways they might not have had an opportunity to enjoy, otherwise. And we had some of the same people, both nights. That's when you really know you are creating fun, as well as value, when you get the same customers coming back time and again."

Digital voting using the patrons' own smartphones or tablet PCs that can connect to WiFi continues to be a major enhancement of the Fire on the Rock competition.  For the "Battle of the Champions", an estimated 90% of the diners used digital devices.  On Tuesday night, only about 15%.  Wednesday, the number rebounded to roughly 70%. "It really speeds up the tallying of the scores," Crippen said, "and the interactivity of entering scores digitally increases the fun!"

The Fire on the Rock knockout preliminaries point toward March quarterfinals and semifinals and an April 11th final.  Next week, the prelims continue with Painted Fish's Monte Weber taking on Giden Ridge's Hunter Hallmark in a Feb. 7th encounter, followed by Michael Foreman of Bistro Roca vs. Josh Grogan of Hearthstone Tavern on Feb. 8th.  Check with Crippens (828-295-3487) to see if any reservations are available.

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