(Editor’s note: Readers of GwinnettForum know of George Graf, who regularly identifies Mystery Photos. Today he writes about appearing on a televised food contest in the Napa Valley. What inspired him to write was the photo of a movie theatre in Napa in the last issue.—eeb)
By George Graf
PALMYRA, Va. | A few years back, I entered a contest for amateur chefs in the Napa Valley. My wife, Diane, convinced me to enter the recipe that I devised for filet mignon.
Out of 1,600+ entries of recipes, I was selected in the Top 30. They sent me a movie camera and asked me to make a homemade video of the cooking of my recipe. I sent it in, and a few weeks later was told I was selected in the Final 10 and won a trip to Napa, sponsored by the Cooking Channel and Beringer Wine. It was hosted by Paula Deen’s two boys, Jamie and Bobby. The production crew would be from Rachael Ray. Bobby Dean was so much fun and hilarious during the shooting.
We got first class tickets from Washington, D.C. to San Francisco, where a limo picked us up and took us to the hotel on the Napa River. We also got a $1,500 cash card for “incidentals.” Top prize was $25,000 . We were there for five days.
There were eight women and two men in the finals, which was broadcast 10 times on the Cooking Channel. I did not win, but had a great experience even under the scrutiny of the judges who sometimes were not so complimentary. That’s their job, I guess.
All us “chefs” were sequestered each day from morning until evening at the Beringer Mansion while undergoing interviews, practices, recipe ingredient approvals, dress code rules and directions while on television. However, the spouses of the chefs were wined and dined all day throughout the Napa Valley vineyards. By the time they returned to us in the evening on the bus, they were “Three Sheets to the Wind.”
The woman who won was a favorite of the chefs. She owned a foreign movie theater that was going bankrupt in Arizona, and the bank told her if she won the top money prize, she could own the theater and be out of debt. She was the happiest person on the planet when she won along with her female partner who accompanied her.
This is a short clip I found online. I’m the one in the black hat and black shirt in front of the critical judges. Click here to see the video.
During the final cookoff filming, there was a countdown clock that showed how much time you have left to be finished. We had 30 minutes. The audience was made of guests, spouses and other onlookers. The film crews and moderator worked the crowd and us during the finals. There were problems periodically with their microphones.
Anyway, I finished first with 10 minutes remaining and all the other chefs finished with under five minutes left according to the countdown clock. So the production crew said they were going to move the countdown clock to 30 seconds and to shout the time left while we were to look busy at the grills. Prior to the final filming, all our clothing was inspected except for the aprons that were furnished by Beringer.
The best part of the whole trip was the fantastic time Diane had. She loved watching television cooking shows and was awestruck with the Deen boys, who gave her a number of autographs. She had the best time which made my time so special.
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