Messy and Picky

The good people at Chase Sapphire were kind enough to extend us two VIP passes to this event. We, of course, said yes, got out of our requisite blogger PJs and headed off to the Loews Hotel for the big bash. Above is a shot of the new Italian restaurant up in Northern Liberties, Apollinare [1001 N. 2nd St]. Chef Andrea Scatacci won for Best Dessert that night and we can verify that they were delicious and fun to watch being prepared. He's mixing up fresh ice cream with liquid Nitrogen for a quick freeze sans ice cream maker.

We made it over to the Davio's Northern Italian Steakhouse table (where we're getting married!) for another dessert. The event had 40 restaurants and a ton of them had desserts, making it especially friendly for vegetarian Messy — there weren't any meat pie desserts that we saw.

Eventually, we stopped by the Chase Sapphire Lounge where we walked by the velvet rope with our badges. No, we didn't do the Wayne's World bit of flashing it all over the place (but maybe we should have?). We checked in at the table to pick up an awesome schwag bag. A signed copy of Susanna Foo's Susanna Foo Fresh Inspiration: New Approaches to Chinese Cuisine, Max Brenner's Chocolate: A Love Story: 65 Chocolate Dessert Recipes from Max Brenner's Private Collection (Brenner was there, but we didn't catch him in time to sign), a mini bottle of Cîroc vodka, a Chase labeled Built wine tote, a coupon book to all 40 participating restaurants, a bag of Melitta Blanc et Noir coffee and a copy of the latest Philly Mag all in a nondescript black tote bag. Yes, we got two bags. Commence hating.

And here's Chef Foo signing books in the lounge. We got one signed to Messy's dad who loves to cook Asian food. While in the lounge, Picky helped himself to a Cîroc cocktail. It was a Cîroc Cobbler. He can't remember exactly what was in it, but Messy noted that it reminded her of the sweet, strong drinks she had in college. Picky can't argue with that assessment.

There was so much to eat and see and we could barely make it to every table just to see what was being offered. In addition to the main room, there was a hallway full of tables and an additional room with more delicious offerings. We had a delicious tiramisu from what we think might have been The Dining Car.

And while we didn't get our picture taken in front of the Philly Mag backdrop to be all up in the society pages, Picky did get Messy to (grudgingly) pose for a frame. Check her out with her exclusive access badge and fan-cay bottle of Perrier!

Thank you again, good people at Chase Sapphire! And now, how about hooking us up with one of those big willie status credit cards?! Kidding, kidding. We're having a grand old time paying off our debt as it is!

We were invited by the people at Harrah's Entertainment Atlantic City to check out a new food-related show they had at Circus Maximus Theater at Caesar's: A Taste of Emeril's: Cooking Challenge. The star would be the audience and the man moving things along would be Marc Summers, a face both of us grew up with on Nickelodeon's "Double Dare". (That's Marc, above) From Harrah's:

Taste of Emeril's is a fast-paced, intriguing, and often hilarious food competition and cooking demonstration, where contestants can win great prizes including chances to experience the finest restaurants at Caesars Atlantic City and The Pier Shops. The culinary action, hosted by Marc Summers from the Food Network's hit show "Unwrapped," will pit audience members against one another, as they compete for top spots as assistant chefs. Emeril will welcome guests and assist competitors via on-screen video.

Chef Ralph Pagano, who was still working in between seasons of "Pressure Cook" [episodes] was the ringleader of the show. Pagano was at ease in front of the large theater and two teams of amateur cooks at his side.

Here's host Marc Summers introducing each team to the crowd. We assume the participants were picked when they bought tickets earlier in the day at the box office in the casino.

The participants were put through some sous chef tasks as part of the challenge to be the last one standing. The first challenge was to whip up some egg whites. Chef Pagano offers up some pointers to one of the participants.

As Chef Pagano went around judging each person's technique, he stopped at one and jokingly held the bowl of whipped egg whites to see of they were stiff enough to not spill out of the bowl. One member of each team of three was let go.

One of the dishes prepared by Chef Pagano, to be paired with everything else, was a red snapper baked in a salt crust. Here's Summers pouring a box of salt into a mixing bowl as Chef Pagano mixed up ingredients.

Here's a look at the whole stage with the big screen where taped segments of Emeril Lagasse were shown.

Here's Chef Pagano running around the audience with a snapper he had prepared prior to the show. As he walked by Picky, the heavy scent of intensely flavorful fish left a trail.

When Emeril's segments came up, the lights changed and all eyes were on the big screen. We thought that the segments were a bit choppy, definitely not the highlight of the show.

There was a brief intermission as one team was eliminated and the final two contestants on the remaining team were split to compete for the big prize. Summers took to the crowd and asked questions about Emeril and food in general for a chance to win a seat on stage to watch the action up close.

And here's Siggi, the lady who stole the show. She liberally downed shots of peppermint schnapps and limoncello while preparing dishes on stage. Siggi was hilarious and the hosts really rolled along with her.

Here's Chef Pagano putting the finishing touches on a lemon meringue pie. He fired up a blow torch to singe the tops of the pie.

The next challenge was to make a fruit soup using the ingredients before them. Siggi went ahead and chugged down some limoncello and started pouring everything in sight into the blender. Across the way, Diana methodically created a concoction. When both soups were brought to Chef Pagano, he had to take a swig of schnapps before taking a taste of Siggi's recipe.

Here's Chef Pagano taking a taste of Dianna's creation, "The Sober One." (Each contestant had to name their creation and Dianna's name got had the whole audience cracking up!)

And with that, it was time for a winner to be crowned and it turned out to be The Sober One, Diana. Siggi got a consolation smooch from Chef Pagano as well as a nice prize package including a dinner at Ceaesar's Mia.

Diana's grand prize, read off by Summers, included cookbooks, spices and a private dinner for four with the chef of Phillippe (also at Caesar's).

After the show, there were single servings of the meringue pie for all to have as they left Circus Maximus. Chef Pagano came out and mingled with the crowd as we gobbled up the tasty pie.

Here's Messy enjoying her serving. The whole thing was fabulous, and the crust was especially delicious.

A shot of the just barely singed puffy top.

We had a great time laughing at the fast-paced action all night long. You can check out the show through November 12th for $35. You can buy tickets here. Summers will be the host through the 2nd and closing out the show will be Mark DeCarlo. (No word if DeCarlo will be diving through a pool of green slime to one up Summers.)