Sunday was the final day of the Cayman Cookout, starting with an over-the-top champagne brunch and chef cookoff. The final gala dinner was a seven course meal, each course prepared by one of the celebrity chefs.
1 Sunday was the Taittinger-sponsored champagne brunch, with Top Chef champion Spike Mendelsohn emceeing the finals of a competition between Ritz Carlton chefs from around the world
2 The celebrity judges for the competition were Tony Bourdain, José Andrés, and Eric Ripert
3 Both chefs competing were women, the winning chef had her young son as a sous chef
4 Time is almost up- ready, set, plate!
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6 Delivering the goods to the panel of judges
7 Max with Alan and Evelyn, a couple from Dallas we became friendly with
8 A brief chance to watch the sunset from our room while we rallied for the final gala dinner
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10 The gala started with cocktails on the outdoor patio at Blue by master mixologist Adam Seger. Martini glasses chilled with ice water while he concocted a mad scientist giant beaker of 100 year old armagnac, japanese pear liquer, and several other exotic ingredients. With all of the macerated herbs, the slurry had to be poured through a filter funnel into the cocktail shakers.
11 Quite the theatrical cocktail event, the next step was to properly shake
12 Tomato granite was put in the bottom of the glass and the cocktail mixture poured over it. Of course, no drink is complete without 3 thick slices of black truffle floating on top! The final step was a couple of drops of artisanal bitters from the tiny flasks with the droppers in them.
13 The gala dinner in Blue was 7 courses, each course conceived by one of the celebrity chefs
14 At the end of the meal, the chefs take a bow as Eric Ripert introduces them. Videocams were setup in the kitchen and monitors spread throughout the dining room so that we could watch the preparations as the meal proceeded.