Head Chef for a Day

You know that dream? The one where you quit your job, open up a restaurant, and make yourself the head chef? Come on, we’ve all had it. Remember that time you made the killer gazpacho and everyone said it tasted better than – yeah, yeah now you remember. That dream came true for E.M. Hinchey, a resident of the Lower East Side – well, sort of.

Matilda, a restaurant on East 11th Street in Manhattan, is currently hosting an ongoing “Cooking Slam” where ordinary street folk are given an opportunity to put on a new hat (white and fluffy) for one night only. After writing a long heart-felt essay, the owners decided to chose E.M. as one of their seven guest chefs. E.M.’s slam was this past Monday, August 4th.

Matilda is famous for its fusion of Mexican and Italian (Tuscan to be exact) cuisine. Before the Cooking Slam, all chefs are presented with two surprise ingredients. They brought out a huge pork roast and a basket of nectarines for E.M. Chefs then have 20 minutes to think of three courses. They are given two hours to make all three. Interspersed with the cooking, Matilda livens the crowd up with games and contests, not to mention a constant kitchen-cam, so all of E.M.’s friends and family could watch him at work. Tim Flanagan, a friend of E.M. said, “I think all restaurants should have such a camera system. Then you’ll know if someone spit in your food.”

E.M. ended up making a pork quesadilla for the first course, a mint inspired pasta with cream came second, and he topped it off with a nectarine gelato. The owners threw him a surprise when they told him he couldn’t use the premade gelato. E.M. had to rigorously figure out the restaurant’s small gelato machine under the pressure of the clock.

All in all, the meal came out marvelously and E.M. left with a valuable lesson. “Cooking at home is great, but this was tough. I felt a lot of pressure.” Don’t worry, E.M., your meal was great, son, and now you don’t have to rely on bedtime dreams to see yourself at the helm of a mighty restaurant kitchen.