Chef Chris Coleman of NoDa’s The Goodyear House and Rock Hill’s Old Town Kitchen & Cocktails pulled a first on Food Network’s Alex vs. America: He tied Alex Guarnaschelli in a cheese competition first aired last night.

The show pits three chefs from various regions of the U.S. against Guarnaschelli in two rounds. One chef is eliminated after the first round, with the remaining chefs competing in the final round. If any of the competing chefs defeat Guarnaschelli, the first and second place competitors split a $10,000 cash prize. If Guarnaschelli is victorious, the competitors get nothing.

In addition to Coleman and Guarnaschelli, the other competing chefs were Tracey Shepos Cenami, executive chef doe Kendall Jackson Family Wines in Santa Rosa, Calif., and Rosni Gurnani, a private chef out of Houston.

Judges for this episode were Leah Park from the cheese shop Milkfarm in Los Angeles and celebrity chef Michael Voltaggio.

In the first round, the chefs had to use at least one of a selection of funky cheeses as well as cheese puffs for a savory dish prepared in 40 minutes. Coleman prepared a Carolina Gold porridge with Tallegio and Stilton cheeses. Coleman’s dish came in third of the four, but it was enough to move on. Gurnani was eliminated.

The final “Money Round” pitted chefs Coleman, Guarnaschelli. and Cenami. The challenge: create a dessert in 40 minutes using a selection of soft cheeses as well as apricot fruit leather.

Coleman reached to his roots for his dessert. “My fallback dessert up my sleeve is my grandmother’s biscuits. It’s an honor to do my grandmother’s biscuits on TV,” Coleman said in an episode cutaway. His dessert: caramelized white chocolate biscuits with Robiola cheese ice cream and raspberry-apricot purée.

Cenami was quickly eliminated, but the judges could not decide between Coleman’s dessert and Guarnaschelli’s, a cream cheese cheesecake topped with a bloomed Robiola rind with yogurt ice cream and apricot leather sauce. In the end, it was declared a tie – the first ever for the series. Since Guarnaschelli was part of the final tie, a compromise prize pool of $7,500 was awarded.

The episode (S2 E4) is available on-demand from cable/satellite/streaming services, as well as being re-aired on the network at various times (check the network schedules).

Unpretentious People Say...

Other Articles You Might Enjoy