Arts Incubator 1st Ever Chili Cookoff
Turn on the Heat
Who will win the coveted Chili Cup? This cookoff among eleven area restaurants is part of the Arts Incubator's annual fund raiser, Turn on the Heat. This event on November 10 features over 20 of the city's top restaurants preparing their creative interpretation of chili. At Turn on the Heat, entertainment includes a tasting of chili and cornbread from the participating restaurants, fire dancers, art, live jazz music, dancers, and more. The funds help starving artists avoid becoming starving freezing artists by defraying the costs of the Incubator's gi-normous heating bill each winter. To learn more and purchase tickets, visit http://www.artsincubatorkc.org/.
The Arts Incubator
115 West 18th Street
Kansas City, MO
816.421.2292
Now, let's see the results of the Chili Cup Cookoff. Judges from local media including PresentMagazine.com, The Pitch, Urban Times, The Kansas City Star, 93.3 FM, and The Independent gathered around the table and sampled eleven entries.
Chef Charles from Webster House had fun with No Harm with a Little Fowl Chili, an adventurous entry with duck, pheasant, chervil, black and white beans, smoked poblanos.
12 Baltimore went with Texas Tea made from beef, pork, chai tea, and dollop of cream.
The Drum Room went crazy with Dementia, a blend of pepper, tomatoes, mango, coconut milk, garlic, and pumpkin seed.
Hereford House, well-known purveyor of fine meat dishes, delivered a chili replete with bison, smoked sausage, and corn.
Lydia's Chile con Carne combined pork, beef, veal, tomato, ancho chili, pinto beans, and porcini mushrooms.
Chef Chris Eis from 1924 prepared Moroccan Lamb and Lentil Chili with apricots and saffron.
Swizzle served up a "Big Bean Chili" made from veal, pork, beef, peppers, spice, runner beans (white & scarlet).
McCoy's Public House entry featured sirloin, ancho chili, and beans.
Succotash went for autumnal harvest inspiration with a chili composed of pomegranate, chili pepper, roasted pumpkin, and maple cream.
Thai Paradise opted for a coconut milk-based chicken soup with straw mushrooms and kaffir lime leaf.
Thomas combined beef, diablo sauce, Abbey Belgium Ale, sweet corn, and black beans.
So who won based on two measures––overall taste and creative interpretation of chili? The Moroccan Lamb and Lentil Chili prepared by Chef Chris Eis from 1924 took top honors.
However, the real winners are the artists at the Arts Incubator that created a cool event combining food, music, art, and entertainment as well as Kansas City arts patrons who will turn out for Turn on the Heat.
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