What the Fork?

Rescue Mission will benefit from Iron Fork, a Food Network-type cooking competition

You’ve heard it time and again: Syracuse is just a big little town. In the case of Iron Fork Syracuse, scheduled for this Sunday, Jan. 29, that truism is proven yet again. Using Facebook as a conduit, the culinary community in the Salt City got word that an Iron Chef-like competition was in the works, and within seven months of the first status update, the benefit for the Rescue Mission was nearly sold out.

This year marks the 125th anniversary of the organization that has served, with a Christian focus, the homeless and poor since 1887. The Rescue Mission got started feeding and housing alcoholic men living on the edge of the Erie Canal in the city; today the organization ministers to the indigent in Syracuse, Cayuga County and Broome County.

In addition, the Rescue Mission serves three meals a day, every day. Furthermore, it operates a cooking school that helps clients get jobs in the culinary field. So it made sense that Iron Fork organizers thought of the nonprofit as the beneficiary of their event; the Rescue Mission staff was thrilled at the offer.

“We couldn’t be happier to be involved in this event,” notes Carolyn Hendrickson, director of organizational advancement at the Rescue Mission, 155 Gifford St. The Rescue Mission is also coordinating the silent auction items, which include overnight stays, restaurant certificates, Syracuse University sports memorabilia and more. “Everything here starts with a meal: Relationships start, barriers are reduced, so a food type of event makes sense.” 

Benefiting a nonprofit was an early talking point for the organizers, says Mary Kiernan, vice president of the American Culinary Foundation’s Syracuse chapter. “Asking the Rescue Mission came from Tom,” says Kiernan, of her husband, the executive chef at SUNY Upstate Medical University. “Not only does the Rescue Mission have a food pantry, but it provides meals, clothing and a food-related mentoring program to get people in the community back to work. He has had a couple of their graduates in his kitchen.”

According to John Reule, executive chef at Wise Guys Bistro and the initiator of Iron Fork Syracuse, his team also approached the Food Bank of Central New York, but they declined the offer. Working alongside Reule and the Kiernans to organize Iron Fork are Chance Bear, chef at Francesca’s, and Jeremy Patterson of Camillus Country Club. 

While Iron Fork is helping kick off the Rescue Mission’s landmark anniversary, the event encompasses much more than its philanthropic leaning. Local chefs also hope Iron Fork will showcase the dozens of high-quality restaurants in the area. 

“We believe that Syracuse is severely under-rated for its quality of food,” says Reule. “I want the food to be showcased, but at the same time acknowledge how important it is that we prepare and serve great food, but that not everyone has the ability to have that food.” 

Coincidentally, Kiernan, in her ACF role, believes those quality chefs need activities outside of their respective kitchens. “At least a year ago, I approached some of the chefs in the ACF and asked what else we can do,” she explains. “I have been a proponent of finding other things for the chefs in the organization to do. This is a growing organization and we need to have enough things to keep people busy. John and Chance Bear talked to me about Iron Fork. I have said for years that there is so much culinary talent in Syracuse that gets overlooked, and it’s not intentional. That’s why I’m part of the ACF, because I believe in this community. This is a city, but it’s also small enough there there’s a great community, and so it all started coming together.”

Social Studies

Trying to explain the exact origin of Iron Fork Syracuse can be as difficult as pinpointing when a mixture of butter, flour and milk becomes a roux. In 2011, the year after The Social Network, the film about Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, was nominated for Academy Awards and he was named Time’s Man of the Year, the social media site played a role. The timeline isn’t as defined.

“I was on Facebook one day,” relates Reule, “and Jeremy {Patterson} posted that we should have a local chef cooking competition. Basically he said, ‘I’m calling out all the chefs.’ So I met with Jeremy and asked at what level he was willing to get involved and that I am going to need help.”

Reule took up the challenge because he had organized and participated in an Iron Fork competition in Minneapolis/St. Paul. “We had six teams of three chefs, and were surrounded by vendors who gave out samples, and they competed for the best chef in Minneapolis.” Fired up by Patterson’s challenge, Reule then called Kiernan to ask if she would like to help (remember, she had been looking for an outlet for local chefs to show off their talents).

“I’ll do it,” she recalls telling them, “but we need to do it right. Do you guys have any idea what it takes to pull this off? I’ve worked on some large-scale conference-type events {at the Carrier Dome, for example}. John said he has done this before, in Minnesota. There seemed to be enough strength in all this, so we said let’s do it.”

The competition needed a home, and with Kiernan’s help—she teaches in SU’s College of Sport and Human Dynamics—the group decided on Schine Student Center’s Goldstein Auditorium. “We all love Schine; it’s a great venue,” she says. “We chefs have been wondering for a while how we can tie our two communities together: downtown restaurants and us up at SU. Our chancellor {Nancy Cantor} has been doing wonderful things to tie the two together, and so the stars and the planets lined up for the date and location at Goldstein Auditorium.”

Furthering the connection is the addition of Anne Burrell. Organizers wanted a celebrity chef to be a judge as well as a star attraction to entice ticket buyers. They asked Burrell, of cable TV’s Food Network; she grew up in Cazenovia, and her parents still live there. In addition to judging alongside WSYR-Channel 9 news anchor Carrie Lazarus and Post-Standard food writer Don Cazentre, Burrell will hang around to sign copies of her new book, Cook Like a Rock Star: 125 Recipes, Lessons and Culinary Secrets (Crown Publishing Group, New York City; 256 pages; $18.55/hardcover), from 4 to 4:45 p.m. Then from 5 to 6 p.m., the spiky-haired chef and star of the Food Network’s Secrets of a Restaurant Chef and Worst Cooks in America, will present a lecture, “Studying and Cooking in Italy,” also in Schine. The lecture is free and open to all.

The event features two emcees as well. One is Rochelle Bilow, who blogs about food, is a Post-Standard contributor and works for the Finger Lakes Wine Country Tourism Marketing Association and the Finger Lakes Wine Alliances as a food and wine ambassador. The other is Chris Xaver, who produces and hosts The Sweet Life program on WCNY-Channel 24. And if you need another Facebook connection, here you go.

Several months ago Bilow put out a status update on her page seeking Finger Lakes wineries to participate in Iron Fork. “I immediately responded,” says Katie Roller, director of public relations and marketing for Wagner Vineyards in Lodi. She was put in touch with Ruele and later drove to Syracuse with four Wagner wines and a selection of their microbrews. “He gave ma a rundown of the event, and what they were looking for in a beverage sponsor.” 

Roller gladly signed up, for several reasons. “Having Anne Burell host this event is going to draw in a huge crowd,” Roller adds. “This is a market that we are not incredibly tapped into and is going to be made aware of our products. And we are donating our efforts and our product to something we can say is going to a good cause.” Further, proceeds from the cash bar will benefit the Rescue Mission.

As quickly as Wagner got on board, Iron Fork heard from 15 teams of three chefs. Paperwork snafus winnowed that list down to 12 teams, which paid the amazingly affordable entry fee of $75 (see a complete list on page 22). “I was in awe of how fast the teams got back to us,” Kiernan says. “My heart sank when I realized we were going to have to tell people no. We started out at eight teams as a good goal. $75 is way too affordable, and we’ve learned from that for the future. The chef world is very competitive, and the celebrity that food TV has brought us, good, bad or ugly. This is what we do for fun, and most of us are in positions as chefs that our careers are now fun.”

The competition will continue at Iron Fork itself, when the teams put together three dishes using the secret ingredient, much like Iron Chef. “They will find out the morning of the competition what the secret ingredient is,” Kiernan adds. “They have been given a list of five ingredients and the secret one is on that list. We’ll reveal it an hour before the competition, and they’ll have a half-hour to devise a menu, which they have to submit; it will be posted, and there can be no changes to that.” Those three dishes are an appetizer, an entrée and one of chef’s choice. “We wanted to leave that open,” Kiernan says, “which actually gave us more latitude with the secret ingredient.”

The winning team will receive chef-appropriate prizes—jackets and knives—and a trophy. The team’s name will be etched onto a plaque that has room for 40 years’ worth of winners. That plaque will hang in the winning eatery until the next year. 

“And of course they get bragging rights,” says Ruele. “People are coming to this event and plan on staying to see these beautiful, artistic dishes. And there’s the entertainment value—with Anne Burrell—and the most watched television shows are food shows.”

The hard work of the last seven months culminates this weekend. “It certainly has been a huge undertaking,” Kiernan admits, “but I love the way this community has gotten excited about this. If the excitement wasn’t there from the get-go I would not be involved. If it isn’t fun, then I won’t do it.”   

Iron Fork Syracuse gets under way Sunday, Jan. 29, at 11 a.m. The first round of judging takes place at 12:05 p.m. In addition to the “kitchen theater” atmosphere, attendees will be able to bid on silent auction items throughout the afternoon. Goldstein Auditorium is inside the Schine Student Center, 303 University Ave. VIP Tickets cost $75 and will allow attendees floor-level seating, and restaurant and libation tastings. General admission tickets cost $20, or $10 for SU students with ID. All ticket holders have access to the Anne Burrell book signing. To buy tickets, visit the Rescue Mission’s Facebook page or their website at rmsyr.org. For general information, call 744-8430.