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Fiesta tops Chefs’ Competition in final leg of Taste
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Posted on Jun 01 2015
Fiesta Resort and Spa edged out six other hotels on Saipan in the 2015 Certified Angus Beef Chefs’ Competition on Saturday in the final leg of the 2015 Taste of Marianas International Food Festival and Beer Garden at the American Memorial Park.
Organized by Triple J and coordinated by Triple J Five Star Wholesale Foods general manager Jay Santos, Fiesta took the first place plum with 335 points. It bested Mariana Resort and Spa, which scored 328 points and Hyatt Regency Saipan, which had 322 points.
Chefs from the different hotels have their picture taken after the Chef’s Competition. (Jayson Camacho)
Hyatt Regency Saipan chefs win third place during the Chef’s Competition at the 17th Annual Taste of Marianas. In photo are Triple J Five Star Wholesale Foods employees, Hyatt Regency Saipan chefs, HANMI president Gloria Cavanaugh, third from right, Kanoa Resort general manager Wendi Herring, second from right, and Atkins Kroll Saipan’s Curtis Dancoe, far right. (Jayson Camacho)
Mariana Resort and Spa chefs join Triple J Five Star Wholesale Foods employees, Guam Food Guy Ken Stewart, far right, Curtis Dancoe, second from right, Kanoa Resort general manager Wendi Herring, forth from right, and HANMI president Gloria Cavanaugh, fifth from right, after winning second place during the Chef’s Competition at the 17th Annual Taste of Marianas. (Jayson Camacho)
Fiesta Resort and Spa Saipan chefs join HANMI president Gloria Cavanaugh, second from right, Triple J Five Star Wholesale Foods employees, Kanoa Resort general manager Wendi Herring, second from right, and Curtis Dancoe of Atkins Kroll, far right, in a group photo after winning the Chef’s Competition during the 17th Annual Taste of Marianas. (Jayson Camacho)
Hyatt won last year’s contest, which had the theme “Mexican Beef Tacos.”
Ken Stewart, who is known as the Guam Food Guy and one of the competition’s judges, said he enjoyed this year’s entries.
“It topped last year’s competition where we only had a few. This year there are seven and each hotel’s cooks and chefs did a great job in showing their entries. It was an island-style beef soup. The soup was amazing, the displays, the creations, and the presentation. Every hotel did a great job,” Stewart said.
The Fiesta chefs said it took them a whole day to prepare their entry. Their dish was called the “Marianas Albondigas,” with tamales beef albondigas in noni salsa sauce.
Stewart noted that using noni as an ingredient is interesting. Other people at the event were also surprised that noni was used as an ingredient, which is commonly used by islanders for medicinal purposes.
Member hotels of the Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands look forward to this competition every year and it was a delight to see the junior chefs come out and be as creative as they are with the display and how they prepare the food.
Thousands streamed into the American Memorial Park grounds for the final leg of this year’s Taste of the Marianas, creating a huge crowd. It was an even bigger turnout than the festival’s first day.
The evening’s entertainment included Hopwood Full 4th, Marianas Ukelele, Saipan Music and Dance School, Hopwood Simiyan Nina’la, JJ Concepcion, TRU Marianas, and Alana la.
The Taste of Marianas is also a great opportunity for visitors to experience island culture while attracting media attention to the islands from MVA’s source markets.
