Photos by Shannon Richardson
Our ongoing food content and twice-a-month Flavorillo newsletter has given us deep connections within Amarillo’s food industry. So when the Amarillo Chapter of the Texas Restaurant Association invited co-founders Michele McAffrey and Jason Boyett to serve as judges at this year’s Restaurant Roundup—which drew hundreds of participants and more than 50 local restaurants to the Rex Baxter Building at the Amarillo Tri-State Fairgrounds on March 6—that was an easy YES from our team.
Michele had the honor of judging a mocktail and amuse-bouche competition in the student culinary showcase. Jason was one of three judges watching local chefs square off in a live competition for the title of Top Chef Amarillo.
We enjoyed the experience so much we decided to feature the winners in this issue of our magazine. From experienced chefs to the next generation of culinary professionals, here are the stories and recipes of those who came out on top.
Marcus Snead | Three-time Winner, Top Chef Amarillo
Among the highlights of Restaurant Roundup was the live kitchen showdown-style competition between three local chefs for the title of Top Chef Amarillo. Similar to Chopped on Food Network, each round of the competition provided contestants with several required mystery ingredients, with instructions to create and serve a dish within 30 minutes in front of a live audience, their work broadcast on a huge video screen. (They were also allowed to use a stocked pantry of additional, optional ingredients and spices.) 
A panel of three judges determined the winners. The first round pitted Livia Woodburn of Pan-Handlers Café and the Amarillo National Bank Executive Dining Room against Elijah Hoskins of Savór Tapas Bar. Hoskins took a very narrow win.
Hoskins then squared off against the reigning champion, Marcus Snead, the new executive chef at Toscana Italian Steakhouse inside The Barfield Hotel. Snead had won this Restaurant Roundup event the past two years. The two chefs were given sushi-grade ahi tuna, jasmine rice, mushrooms and baby bok choy. Five minutes later, a mystery ingredient was revealed: pickled ginger.
“It’s nerve-wracking,” Snead says, reflecting on the competition a few weeks later. “But at the same time, it feels great. Every chef loves a little bit of validation, but to be recognized by your peers and go up against your peers—not even to win, just to compete—is all in good fun.”
Snead comes from a high-end culinary background that includes a lot of experience with French and Italian cooking and pastries, but the ingredients in the Top Chef Amarillo final were decidedly Asian-influenced. And Hoskins had actually cut his teeth working in kitchens in Asia. “I’m not a cooking competition guy. The stress gets to me,” Snead admits. “I saw [Hoskins] doing some beautiful crazy things, and this was right in his wheelhouse. You go, ‘Am I doing enough?’”
While Hoskins’ creation was indeed beautiful—with bok choy blended into a visually stunning green sauce—Snead took the win based on his seamless combination of savory, sweet and sour flavors. The ingredients in his rice-based dish were pulled together with a delicious caramelized fish sauce, juice from pickled ginger, and the earthy, herbal freshness of fennel.
“Fennel is underused, especially in Amarillo,” he says. “I wish we would see more fennel [in local dishes]. It’s just one of those great, easy, simple, classic kinds of flavors.”
He graciously prepared the dish again for us—this time, without a time limit or a video camera looking over his shoulder.
“What do you call this recipe?” we ask Snead at the photo shoot.
“Hopes and Dreams,” he says, laughing.
Locals will remember Snead from the late, great Barrel & Pie pizza restaurant near the Square in Canyon, which was followed by more recent stints at Baby Crush in Wolflin Village, which became TWENTY606 Wine & Bistro. In January, The Barfield hired Snead to run its on-site dining concepts, including the Toscana Italian Steakhouse and Paramount Recreation Club speakeasy. He’s spent the past few weeks retooling the menu and transitioning from his previous positions to a much more diverse set of restaurant concepts—from the steakhouse to bar fare to room service and large-group, conference-style catering.
At Barrel & Pie or Baby Crush, Snead says he focused on pleasing repeat customers. But at The Barfield, where guests may only stay once, he’s had to shift his thinking. “You want them to have a great meal when they’re staying here, but at the same time, you want to make sure that you’re offering them enough variety. It keeps you on your toes,” he says.
So do timed food competitions with mystery ingredients, and after three straight years of winning these competitions, Snead has established his ability to create amazing meals under pressure.
Fennel Orange Salad
Instead of a full recipe for Snead’s winning dish, we asked him to share the recipe for the delicious fennel orange salad he used to top the tuna.
¼ cup fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar (white wine vinegar works as well)
3 teaspoons honey
2 teaspoons pickled ginger, divided
A healthy splash of pickled ginger juice
A pinch of salt
1 orange
1 small fennel bulb, thinly sliced (a mandolin works best)
Toasted sesame seeds and fennel fronds for garnish
Whisk orange juice, rice wine vinegar, honey, 1 teaspoon pickled ginger (finely chopped), pickled ginger juice, and salt in a medium bowl. Peel and cut orange into thin pieces and thinly slice the fennel bulb. Add to dressing; toss to coat. Cover and chill for 30 minutes to allow fennel to soften and flavors to get to know one another.
Toss the remaining pickled ginger into salad. Top with toasted sesame seeds and fennel fronds. This salad is delicious served with fish. Also, the oranges can be substituted with fresh plum slices for a delicious and light summer barbecue salad.
Makes 4 servings
Paw Thaw and Aydrian Sledge | Amuse-Bouche Winners
Don’t let the French verbiage fool you: amuse-bouche is just a fancy way of describing small, bite-sized hors d’oeuvres served before a meal. In other words: appetizers. In French, it literally means “mouth amuser,” and the winners of this student competition at Restaurant Roundup definitely understood the assignment.
AmTech culinary students Paw Thaw and Aydrian Sledge, “both juniors at Tascosa High School, prepared crispy, flavorful Bang Bang Chicken for the event. Coated in panko crumbs mixed with cayenne pepper and served with a spicy remoulade, these snack-sized chicken thighs pack a punch.
“We both like spicy stuff,” says Aydrian, who grew up immersed in Mexican seasonings because of her mother’s heritage. Paw came to Amarillo from Thailand when she was a child, and became accustomed to spicy foods within that culture. “It just doesn’t taste right if it’s not spicy,” she says.
After developing and perfecting their recipe, the duo entered Restaurant Roundup knowing that anything could happen when they prepared it on the spot for judges. They had to be confident enough to handle surprises, like when Paw accidentally burned the chicken. “The nerves just got to me,” she says, laughing.
“We were stressed at first,” Aydrian adds. “We just learned how to work together really well, figuring stuff out on the spot, because not everything’s going to go how you plan for it to go.”
They recovered, even earning a perfect score from one judge. “They said it was well-seasoned, and everything was flavorful,” Paw remembers. She grew up watching her mom prepare traditional Thai recipes and has always been drawn to cooking shows. She hopes to someday start her own restaurant.
Aydrian is considering culinary school after graduating. “I’ve just always enjoyed cooking. My mom cooks a lot so I’ve always helped her in the kitchen. I just like coming up with new stuff and trying things,” she says.
Bang Bang Chicken
Crispy Chicken Marinade
2 cups soy sauce
¼ cup oyster sauce
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
⅛ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon onion powder
⅛ teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon ginger, minced
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Add 3 boneless skinless chicken thighs; set aside and marinate for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the garnishes and sauces. Fry 3 slices bacon, chopped, until crispy. Remove bacon to drain on a paper towel. Using bacon grease, fry ¼ cup sliced leeks until crispy.
Sweet Chili Sauce
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
2 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce
1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce
1 teaspoon Sriracha
Mix all ingredients in a small bowl, whisking well to combine.
Set aside.
Spicy Remoulade
Juice of ½ lemon
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Sriracha
Mix all ingredients in a small bowl, whisking well to combine.
Set aside.
Next, prepare cornstarch dredge:
2 cups cornstarch
½ tablespoon smoked
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon onion powder
Pinch of garlic salt
Mix seasoning in a small bowl and set aside.
Prepare wet ingredients:
2 eggs
⅛ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon smoked pepper
Whisk eggs and add seasonings, whipping until well combined.
Set aside.
Prepare coating:
1 ½ cups panko crumbs
½ tablespoon crushed red pepper
½ tablespoon cayenne pepper
½ tablespoon blackening seasoning
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
½ tablespoon smoked paprika
To prepare crispy chicken, heat 2 cups frying oil in a saute pan. Remove chicken from marinade and dredge it in cornstarch mixture. Next, dip it in egg mixture to coat and, finally, coat chicken in panko mixture. Fry chicken in oil until golden brown. Remove from oil and drain on a paper towel. To plate, slice chicken into bite-size pieces. Place on 4 separate plates or serving bowls. Using a squeeze bottle or spoon, drizzle sauces on top of chicken. Top with a pinch of bacon bits and fried leeks.
Makes 4 servings
Alexis Batista | Mocktail Contest Winner
The vibrant and refreshing Cosmopolitan Cloud mocktail impressed judges with its unique combination of effervescent flavor and silky texture from egg-white foam. Creator Alexis Batista is part of the immersive School of Culinary Arts at AmTech Career Academy.
He comes by the food-and-drink interest naturally. “My mom and dad met in culinary school,” Batista says. “It was like it’s part of the family.” In fact, his dad once operated a Cuban restaurant in southern Mexico. Batista says he learned to cook Cuban rice from his grandmother before the family came to the United States four years ago from Cuba.
The Cosmo-style drink evolved from another idea: a mocktail called Pink Pearl. Batista loved the color and appearance of Pink Pearl—which incorporated egg whites—but the taste wasn’t quite competition-worthy. Adding cranberry cocktail juice gave it a necessary balance against the sweetness of Blood Orange Sparkling French Lemonade, Batista says.
“We didn’t add sugar, because it was [already] sweet,” he says.
The hands-on approach of AmTech’s culinary program gives him the flexibility to try new things and make mistakes. “It’s more practical, if you can practice with your own hands and see your mistakes. AmTech is really good for students.”
That kind of experimentation and detailed thinking helped set Batista’s drink apart from the rest of the competition, and expresses itself in other ways beyond the culinary world. A senior who’ll graduate in May, he’s hoping to pursue a civil engineering degree in college.
But the opportunity to try mixology in the Restaurant Roundup competition has captured his attention.
“I’ve been thinking really a lot about a restaurant and now I’m thinking about getting a bartender license and maybe work for some years to get some experience,” he says. Batista has been paying attention to his parents’ experiences, however. It’s helped him set realistic expectations. “Eighty percent of restaurants fail, but still, it’s not impossible so I can try,” he says.
One idea he’s been kicking around is a Cuban restaurant in Amarillo. Should he ever get to that stage, participating in the mocktail competition has prepared him to receive feedback in a healthy way. “Positive feedback is good,” he says, but insists the most important feedback is the negative kind. “The critical feedback is the one that helps you. That’s what you’re going to learn from to create something new.”
Cosmopolitan Cloud Mocktail
Equipment:
Cocktail shaker
Martini glass
Swizzle spoon
Paring knife and small cutting board
Microplane
Spiral cutter for orange curls
1 cup ice
3 pints cranberry cocktail
2 pints Topo Chico
3 pints Rieme Blood Orange Sparkling French Lemonade ( World Market)
Juice from ½ fresh lime
1 orange
Pinch of lime and orange zest
1 egg white
1 lime curl for garnish
Granulated sugar for rimming the glass
Chill martini glass by filling it with ice water. Use a spiral cutter to prepare orange curl for garnishing. Pour cranberry juice, Topo Chico, sparkling lemonade, 2 ounces fresh-squeezed orange juice, and fresh lime juice into a cocktail shaker. Add ½ cup ice, and shake to combine.
Remove water from the chilled glass; rim the edge with fresh lime wedge and sugar. Using the shaker lid, carefully strain mocktail into the glass, excluding ice. Rinse the shaker and add egg white. Shake vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes until egg white foams. Pour foam over top of mocktail. Garnish with a lime wedge, orange curl and mint leaves.
Makes 1 mocktail
