BACK OF THE HOUSE BRAWL benefitting KASSIDY’S ARMY

November 17th Chef Sean Griffin of Prime is returning to defend his title for the Back Of The House.  Sean will be cooking against Chef Nicole Brisson of Carne Vino ,  Mario Batali’s restaurant at the Palazzo.

Chef Sean Griffin

Chef Nicole Brisson

Nicole and Sean will begin to serve the crowd at 1am.  The theme of the night is Hot Stock, it’s that time of the year.  You will have the opportunity to buy super hot delicious soup from both chefs until 2am.  The proceeds are going to Kassidy’s Army, chosen by Chef Sean Griffin as the charity.  The money raised will go directly to Kassidy’s family.  At 1:30 am the main brawl begins, both chefs will remove themselves from their given food truck for the unveiling of ingredients.  30 minutes will be given to create 5 portions of one dish for the judges, the best dish wins.  Their dishes are judged on a point system by the judges, 5 points for Taste, Use of Ingredients and Appearance for a total of 15 points..  Chef Mike Minor of Border Grill is returning as one of the three judges along side of Donna Rocker. 

 5 Food Trucks will be serving at the TRUCK STOP from 10-2:30am, LOLA D’S KITCHEN, QUALITY FOOD SERVICE, ROAMIN DOUGH,JUST ROLLIN, ENGINE 1 PIZZA AND BAKE MY DAY.

 

Before and during the BOH BRAWL you can express your love of chile by being a part of the judging for the CHILI COOK OFF!!! My buddy Brad will be up against Lola D’s Kitchen and the Owner of Insert Coins, Chris LaPorte.  The chile will be sold from Quality Food Service, Roaming Dough and Lola D’s Kitchen, look for the special menus. Once you’ve purchased a bowl of chile you will have the opportunity be a judge.  I’m not sure what the winner of the CHILE OFF is going to receive but bragging rights seems to go a long way.

Now for the COCK FIGHT, Jr Starkus of RM Seafood is returning for his second battle after taking the first win against Fernie Davidson.  Big thanks go out to David Herlong for assisting with bar set up and producing the product from Diageo. No animals were injured during this event. Just sayin. November 17th JR Starkus will be up against a neighborhood favorite from The Downtown Cocktail Room, Kevin Gorham.  The DCR is located downtown on Las Vegas Blvd and E. Fremont.  If you have not been to DCR, I’ll give you a tip, push on the right side of the door to enter. 

The COCK FIGHT will begin between 1:30-2am, we can decide that night.

Todd Harrington’s and Team Central will be returning with the PBR trophy.  It will be hard to beat what Brian Howard added but I know Todd is creative.  I’ll see you on Saturday. 

Thanks to Land Rover, PBR, Whole Foods, Diageo and Tommy Rockers

Tommy Rockers, 4275 dean martin dr

There is always a winner at the BOH BRAWL…

Chef Todd Harrington of Central was chosen as the the Winner  of the Back Of the House Brawl at Tommy Rockers. Three chefs competed for the PBR trophy, Joshua Smith, previous Chef of Milos at Cosmopolitan, Chef Chris Bulen of Andre’s and Chef Todd Harrington of Central at Caesar’s.  Chef Josh just happened to be passing through Vegas and decided to join the competition. 

As usual the chefs sold food to raise money for a local charity and the nights theme of the night was “BONES”.  Todd and Chris both pleased the crowd by selling braised short ribs and managed to raise a lot of money for the Lili Clair foundation.

 Todd was stationed on  Redneck Kitchen, Chris Bulen chose Lola D’s Kitchen to prepare their dishes for the crowd and judges while  Josh Smith cooked from Sheff’s Kitchen.  As a visitor Josh Smith joined the BOH BRAWL at 1:30 when they each received their mystery ingredients. 

The ingredients were, quail, fresh pomegranate, honey oats, kimchi and jalapenos.  Once the chefs received the ingredients the 30 minutes was given to create 5 portions of one dish for the judges. I was pleased to have Sebastien Silvestri, Vice President of Food and Beverage of Venetian, Donna Rocker, owner of Tommy Rockers and Ivo Angelov, General Manager of Le Cirque as judges for the competition. 

30 minutes creeps up quickly and it was time to start the judging.  Each chef was give up to 5 points for taste, use of ingredients and appearance, for a total of 15points. 

Chef Bulen’s Quail dish.

Chef Josh Smith’s poboy dish.

The winner and no picture to show you was Todd Harrington’s dish»

On to the COCK Fight…the Back of the House Brawl welcomed Fernie Davidson from Pour Vous in LA to challenge JR Starkus of RM Seafood in a cocktail brawl. First of all, THANK YOU Dave Heirlong for supplying the liquor and mixes for the battle. Each bartender was given a shaker, ice, muddler, and a array of liquor and bitters etc.  Both JR and Fernie were allowed to bring two ingredients and one tool to use to create 2 drinks in 10 minutes.  I was honored to have Ricardo, lead mixologist of the Bellagio to judge the competition. 

The night was nothing short of amazing!!! The Cock Fight will continue and of course the Back Of the House Brawl will return in November 17th.  Check out the trophy, well done Brian Howard.

Thank you chef Todd, Chris and Josh for participating.  Thanks to the food trucks and Fernie and JR, I love you all.  I can’t forget Tommy Rocker’s, we all love you for letting us take over every Saturday.  XOXOX 

“BONES” & A “COCK FIGHT” BOH BRAWL October 13th

3 chefs going for the PBR trophy.  Chef Todd Harrington of Central is up against Chris Bulen of Andre’s and Chef Josh Smith of Lettuce.

Chef Todd Harrington, Central.

Chef Chris Bulen

Chef Josh Smith

The theme is BONES in honor of Halloween.  Chef Harrington and Bulen will serve a $6 dish of Bones, meat on a bone.  Chef Josh is visiting from out of town so he will be participating in the main event only, the Mystery basket.  It’s another triple header at the TRUCK STOP.  The chefs are selling food to raise money for the Lili Claire Foundation of Nevadaand whoever raised the most $ will take home a bar tab.  The chefs have a chance to win the PBR trophy if the judges pick their creative dish  &&&&& there’s going to be a COCK FIGHT between two bartenders.  OH MY» 

Vegas’s JR Starkus of Rm Seafoodwill be showing off his skill of mixology against Davidson Fernie of LA’s POUR VOUS.  Each bartender will be set up with ingredients to make one cocktail in 5 minutes.  This will go down while the chefs are cooking, 1:45am. 

It’s time to send Thank everyone to Whole Foods for supplying the goods to the chefs for the Brawl.  PBR and Jameson for bringing pretty girls to look at as well as Beer to drink;) Land Rover for letting us burrow Clifford for the night ( you’ll meet him if you show up). Diagio for supplying the liquor and ingredients for the Cock fight and thanks to Tommy Rockers for letting us take over their beautiful parking lot.  We love the Food Trucks for feeding us every Saturday.  

Food Trucks that will be with us on Saturday, October 13th are : REDNECK KITCHEN, SHEFF’S KITCHEN, LOLA D’S KITCHEN, DRAGON GRILLE AND PINK BERRY. 

PBR & Jameson will be at Tommy Rockers doing giveaways as well as Whole Foods.  You have a chance to win free groceries..  If you want to be a part of the the Cupcake eating contest find me when you get there and do the Gangnam Style dance and your in the contest!!!

The Food Trucks start serving at 8pm and the brawl begins at 1am.  The Truck Stop is a weekly event that runs late night and the BOH BRAWL is once a month.  Please pass the word to you friends. 4275 Dean Martin. 


I look forward to seeing everyone get drunk and overly full late night Saturday.  Hugs and Kisses.  Jo :-0


And the winner was… Chef Brain Howard, Comme Ca

Great job to chef Middleton and Chef Howard for feeding us late night at Tommy Rockers for the BOH BRAWL.  They worked all night and then came out to Tommy Rockers to support the local food trucks with a little competition.  Chef Brain Howard who is very familiar to the Truck Stop took the PBR Trophy home.  The ingredients of the night were not easy to work with.  Chef Roy from Sensi at Bellagio thought it would be a great idea to give the chefs duck legs, pumpkin puree, chia seeds and powered donuts so of course I agreed and Whole Food was kind enough to donate the goodie for the chefs brawl.  

Once the dishes were made and the judges had a taste we moved into our next competition, champagne sabering.  The owner of Marche Bacchus, Jeff Wyatt was challenged by the Sommelier of Comme Ca, Bruno.  Both gentelmen had to stand in front of their champagne bottle hands behind their heads and after “ready, Set, Go!” was announced the race was to see who could saber the champagne faster.  Bruno may be very good at sabering by Jeff Wyatt won the battle! Apparently Jeff does a ritual of sabering champagne every Bastille day at Marche Bacchus and is quite good at this. 

Unfortunately the pictures that were taken can not be downloaded for the blog;( please visit my facebook page, Jolene Mannina to see a sneak peak of what went on at Tommy Rockers.  hopefully I can ad pictures soon.  

There was a cupcake eating contest that night also.  Bake my Day supplied the cakes and a few friends joined the contest to see who could eat 3 cupcakes the fastest.  I thought the girls were going to tale this home but the guy from crowd won by a swallow. 

NEXT BOH BRAWL is October 13th.  Three chefs battling for bragging rights and to mark the one and only PBR Trophy. Don’t miss it, there will be a COCK fight going down at 1:45am.  The theme of the weekend is “BONE” in honor of Halloween. The rest of the news will follow. XOXO>pass the good word and send your friends to Tommy Rockers every Saturday for good eating. 

Jo

SEPTEMBER 29TH! SOUTHERN COOKIN @sntruckstop

Chef Middleton of Marche Bacchus!  This will be Chef Middleton’s first appearance on the food trucks but he seems ready to the challenge. 

If you have not dined at Marche Bacchus, you are missing out! the ambience alone is worth the drive to the French Bistro.  Include amazing food and a wine store and you’ll find yourself at the restaurant for hours.  Lunch or dinner!

Chef Brian Howard of Comme Ca is a regular at the TRUCK STOP and has competed and judged the BOH BRAWL.  Both times he participated there were different rules in place so this will be his first time for the new format. 

Look for Chef Howard on the Food Network Channel, he appeared on “Chopped” this season.  Chef Brain Howard definitely likes to keep his guests and regular fans interested to see what he’ll be offering at the dinner table next.  My last visit I had the most delicious set of fried pig ears, thanks chef ;). Comme Ca also offers a gastro-pub style menu on Mondays.

Come out and support your local chefs, food trucks and the local food scene in Vegas with the industry late night.  Tommy Rockers, 4275 Dean Martin Dr. 

FOOD TRUCK LINE UP: REDNECK KITCHEN , FUKUBURGER, COAST2 COAST DELI AND RUSTY PICKLE. 

See you Saturday!

CONGRATS TO SAGE!! BIG WINNER

On September 15th Circo and Sage participated in the BOH BRAWL at the TRUCK STOP and Sage left with the PBR trophy.  Overall the night was a huge success!

The brawl started off with the coin toss to determine what food trucks would be chosen to use as the chef’s kitchen for the following hour. Chef Richard of Sage won the toss and immediately asked for Lola D’s Kitchen.  Chef Michael soon picked the Redneck Kitchen and the battle was on.   For 1 hour each chef was asked to sell street food with theme Silk Road to raise money for Three Square.  Silk Road was the trade route from Asia to Europe.

While team Circo and Sage were selling their street food while Chef Michael and Chef Richard were given their secret ingredients to create a dish for our judges.  We were very lucky to have Susan Stapleton of EATER Vegas, Grace Bascos writer for SEVEN Magazine and Donnna Rocker of Tommy Rockers as our judges. 

The ingredients were, Chorizo Iberico, sea salt dried capers, tahini and seaweed. 

Each chef was allowed 30 minutes to create a dish that would be judgeD on three categories for a total of 15 pts.  5PTS for TASTE, 5PTS for USE OF INGREDIENTS & 5PTS for PRESENTATION. 

The winning Dish..by SAGE.  Poached egg, tahini hollandaise, topped with chorizo, seaweed and fried capers.

The Yummy Dish created by Circo.  Chorizo, seaweed stuffed tricolored peppers with a tahini sauce.

Team Circo hard at work on Redneck Kitchen.

Joe from Circo added a creative touch to the TRUCK STOP.. 

Check out the new attachment from RM seafood… I LOVE IT!!!! 

NEXT BOH BRAWL SEPTEMBER 29th CHEF BRIAN HOWARD OF COMME CA is up against CHEF DAVE MIDDLETON of MARCHE BACCHUS

They’ll be serving southern cookin from 1-2am!!! 

TOMMY ROCKERS 4275 DEAN MARTIN DR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 8-2:30AM LOVE YA!

SEPT 15TH BOH BRAWL SAGE & CIRCO

This is going to be yet another amazing night at the TRUCK STOP.  Two well established chefs have stepped up to the plate to attempt to make their mark on the PBR trophy.

Chef Richard Comarota of Sage

Chef Michael Vitangeli of CIRCO

Chef Richard Comarota of Sageand Chef Michael Vitangeli of CIRCO will restart their evening on September 15th at 1am for the good of community.  Each chef will be selling their interpretation of street food from 1-2am.  The street food theme will be based around “Silk Road”.  Chef Brain Howard of Comme Ca thought this would be a interesting theme to go with for the chefs.  This was a term that I wasn’t familiar with at first and needed to do a little research.  Silk road was the trade route that connected Asia to the Mediterranean and Africa. It is a broad theme but one that will bring a beautiful array of flavors to the plate. 

It wouldn’t be a BOH BRAWL if their wasn’t a competition so at 1:30am each Chef will receive their mystery basket of ingredients to create 1 dish for our judges.  This weekend we are lucky to have Susan Stapleton of EATER VEGAS, Grace Bascos,writer for SEVEN Magazine and Donna Rocker, owner of Tommy Rockers.  

The Food Truck line up for Saturday will be SAUSAGEFEST, LOLA D’S KITCHEN, REDNECK KITCHEN ( naked burritos) , DRAGON GRILLE ( they will be serving Asian style hamburgers), QUALITY FOOD SERVICE ( delicious fish tacos!!) & DREAM CONES, shaved ice. A little bit of everything to dazzle your taste buds!!!! 

The FOOD TRUCKS are open for business at 8pm and will serve until 2:30am at TOMMY ROCKERS>4275 Dean Martin Dr.  The Chefs get started at 1am and serve until 2am, their item will be $6.  The event will benefit Three Square, Nevada’s Food Bank. 

I hope to see everyone at Tommy Rockers!!! 

XOXO, Jo

SLOPPI JO’S … it was great night on E. Fremont.

I hope you had a chance to join us on our one day return.  It felt good to be on E. Fremont, it wasn’t that long ago when Sloppi Jo’s and Fukuburger were side by side in front of Insert Coins and The Beat coffee shop to feed the late night street walkers.  The crew got to see a lot of familiar faces that were once Sloppi Jo regulars.  

I have to thanks Krystle for coming back for one night with her yummy brookies and cupcakes. Thanks to Josh for sweating over the grill and Brad for being thrown into the fire.  BIGGEST THANKS to LOLA D’s KITCHEN for allowing us to take their girl out for the night.  

The Green and Red Burgers were the biggest hit of the night! Thanks for all those who came out to get their Hatch Chile fix, I love you all. 

The street was blocked off so Ricardo Laguna could have some BMX fun.

See ya at the TRUCK STOP!! 

Jo

The RETURN of SLOPPI JO’s September 3rd

The smell of Hatch chiles are in the air, you can find them at Carlitos Burritos, Whole Foods, and a few Albertsons in town.  Get them while they are fresh and use them in every dish you make at home.  They work well on eggs, burgers, stew you can even pickle them but just use them and thank me later.  Hatch chilis can be mild or extra hot so be careful when using your dosage.  

If you were a fan of my truck Sloppi Jo’s or if you didn’t have the chance to experience my menu designed around Hatch chiles you will have one opportunity on September 3rd.  I will be posted up with Fukuburger on E.Fremont in front of Insert Coins from 7-10ish or until we get kicked off the street.  I will be on Lola D’s Kitchen serving up Green Chile cheese burgers, red burgers, pork tacos, frito pie, green chile chicken stew and of course the non-traditional Sloppi Jo. 

My “sloppi jo” is slow roasted pork in a red chili sauce topped with a sunny-side up egg, pickled citrus onions and it’s served with a warm flour tortilla.  

My right hand lady on the truck was Krystle, she dazzled our taste buds with her delicious cupcakes.  The cupcakes are making a appearance on September 3rd also. NOt sure of the flavors but I’m almost positive there will be a breakfast cupcake in my future, pancake bottom, buttercream maple frosting with candied bacon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! “EAT ME IM DELICIOUS!”  I just got really excited.  Spread the word because we will have limited supply of everything.  The event is from 7:30-9:30, we will most likely open early and close late.

My partner “The Josh” will be on the grill that night and my buddy Brad is getting thrown in to the mix.  Join us for the grub and venture inside Insert Coins for the booze.   Spend Labor Day on Fremont #DOWNTOWNVEGAS. 

THANK YOU INSERT COINS AND DJ 88 FOR BRINGING BACK SLOPPI JO’S FOR THE NIGHT, IT WAS A GRRRREAT IDEA!!!!!! 

Winner of the last BOH BRAWL, Chef Chris Starkus!

Chef Chris Starkus and his team from RM Seafood took the win over Chef Chunk and his crew from FIX.  It was a close competition but only one restaurant could go home with the PBR trophy.  Over all the night was a high success.  

The night started as we watched Chef Chunk prep his tacos off Light Group’s taco cart from Diablos. The scent was in the air early to create a buzz for their delicious tacos. If you have not joined us at the TRUCK STOP for the Back Of the House Brawl, each chef brings food to sell for 1 hour to raise money for a local charity.  The past few battles have benefited Three Square.  Normally the chefs have a theme to follow but for this BOH BRAWL the chefs served their interpretation of street food but it had to pair with the wines from David Arthur.  Which leads into our special guest for the evening David Arthur Winery.

David himself goes on a wine tour every where to promote his Sauvignon blanc and Mertaggio.  David started the tour in May and hit 22 cities, his last stop was the TRUCK STOP at Tommy Rockers for the BOH BRAWL, August 18, 2012.  The following day he was back on the road to head home for Napa Valley. David Arthur is best known for his Elevation 1147, which by the way just received 99 pts.  I was lucky enough to taste the 99pt vino and it is fantastic juice!! Since we were lucky enough to have David Arthur at the TRUCK STOP we incorporated the wine into the challenge. 

Each chef was given a mystery basket of ingredients to prepare 1 dish for the judges.  The main ingredient was Rabbit picked by myself and Harley, winner of the last Sommelier edition at the BOH BRAWL from Joel Robuchon picked the other three; liquid smoke, asparagus and mangos.  Doesn’t sound easy to me but both chefs made it look easy.  They only had 30 minutes to make the dish while the rest of their team was still selling their street food to raise money for Three Square. Raised $750 in 1 hour for the Charity;)

Thanks to Artisanal Foods for supplying the Rabbit! 

Chef Chris Starkus was busy making his dish, Rabbit and Shrimp etouffee with chickpea crepes, paired with the Martaggio from David Arthur. 

Chef Chris Conlon aka CHUNK and Chef Pat are plating their Bacon wrapped rabbit, cooked under a brick with a smoked rabbit and citrus lolipop served with mango chili to pair with the Sauvignon blanc from David Arthur. 

Our Lovely judges for the event were, Chef Brian Howard of Comme Caat the Cosmopolitan; Xania Woodman, senior editor for SEVEN magazine; Joe Philips Master Sommelier; David, owner and wine makes of David Arthur Winery. I’d like to thank each of them for supporting the TRUCKS TOP and staying up after hours to be a part of the BOH BRAWL. Love ya.

It was a great night full of energy with lots of support from the FOH & the BOH staffs of each restaurants.  

STK fam shot Chef Hopcraft;Trina, cocktail waitress with an attitude; Stacy STK Director of Operation ; The man himself David Arthur and Chef Howard of Comme Ca, neighbor to STK. I can’t forgot BRAD- behind Chef Hopcraft.

Chef Rick Moonen supporting Chef Starkus. 

REMEMBER THE TRUCK STOP IS EVERY WEEK AT TOMMY ROCKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Food trucks make a stop every Saturday to serve the industry late night.  The BOH BRAWL is once or twice a month.  You can follow me on twitter @sloppijos or @sntruckstop or follow this blog to know when the next Brawl is going to take place.  Support your local food trucks, support your community and your local charities. Any feedback from the event is welcome, any fun ideas are welcome, email me jolene@sloppijos.com.  Let’s keep the party going and give these chef a hour to express themselves after working all night long.  Realize how amazing it is to have established hard working chefs work extra long and hard to create a community for our industry, it’s really super cool.  Thanks to everyone that has been a part of the BOH BRAWL and come out to joins us on Saturdays at Tommy Rockers. I love you all!! 

I have to thank the Food Trucks, REDNECK KITCHEN. COAST 2 COAST DELI. LOLA D’S KITCHEN. ROAMIN DOUGH & HAULIN BALLS.

NEXT BOH BRAWL SET FOR SEPTEMBER 15TH CHEF OF CIRCO is going against the chef of SAGE!!!!! is going to be ridiculous, mark my words.  Now, Pass the information on. 

XOXO