Crudite for the Win!
Published in Widowism by chefswidowOn Sunday morning I woke up to unbelievable amounts of support. Having organized a Tweetup / Watch party for that evening’s Iron Chef I really didn’t have a clue as to how it was going to be perceived. Sure, I knew my foodie peeps like JoeG and LisaZ would be tweeting up a storm however my 6th grade self at my 12th birthday party wondered if anyone would even show up.
Show up they did! Hell, they almost broke the internet. All day Sunday I sat by my tweetdeck and watched the #teamsawyer hashtags flow. First 5 tweets an hour, then 10, the 30, then fifty! The show hadn’t even begun and #teamsawyer was on FIRE yo. My nervous stomach started to get the best of me as I drove downtown to the restaurant to watch the Chef compete on Iron Chef America.
When I arrived at the tavern the Chef was waiting with a glass of bubbly knowing my nervousness was growing. I downed the bubbly and waited in heightened anticipation with mah boys:
#teamsawyer
For what seemed like hours (in actuality it was only 1) I bounced around the room and ran back and forth between both restaurants. Both were packed with droves of people, all there to support the Chef and his team. Moments before Iron Chef began I took it all in. The Chef and I held hands on the stairs of our restaurant as we watched him in battle for the next 60 minutes.
The final outcome was one I could have gone without. Who woulda ever thought crudite would be a winning Iron Chef dish? Nevertheless, I know The Chef gave it his all and I couldn’t be prouder. Like always, he put his heart and passion into the battle. He was loud and boisterous, personable and funny, and I wouldn’t have wanted him to be any other way. He showed the entire world that he is a fierce competitor and more importantly, an extremely talented chef. We had an unbelievable night together with our friends and family and I am forever grateful that I live in such a close knit city. Happy in CLE:
Me & @kakaty
Birthday boy @lasher216 and me cheering for #teamsawyer
A huge thanks goes out to all the #teamsawyer tweeps! You guys made a huge moment in our life, monumental.
We’ll get em next tho’ and we’ll be sure to bring a shitload of cut veggies…
Heh. Heh.
But really, I would LOVE to know what you thought of the Chef’s Iron Chef America episode? Did you enjoy?
***And if you missed Sunday night’s episode, it is on YouTube and The Food Network will be playing it this Saturday at 5pm. Feel free to watch and tweet with #teamsawyer!
i enjoyed everything but the ending!!
i love how proud of your husband you are, it’s sweet and touching.
you deserve a ton of credit for his success too, lady – congratulations to you both!
xo
alexa @ cleveland’s a plum´s last [type] ..Jump Back Ball + This City on CSF Radio
Crudite and a trifle, don’t forget the beautiful trifle… CLE rocked it both in personalty and cuisine. Couldn’t be prouder, something felt a little fishy, but I’m not about to be a conspiracy theorist. Great attitude and Chef staying positive is awesome! I’d order GHT menu over the crudite any time. Congrats
Adam Mahler´s last [type] ..Time to Think about Pink
I am not a regular watcher of ICA (or much of Food TV), but was really happy to have tuned in. The food and personality put forth by Chef Sawyer were both things that you both can be proud of. Given the choice of either menu, I know what my choice would be and it would not include crudites.
Mark S. (@_Mark_S)´s last [type] ..Roasted Mutton Neck a la Collins Anderson
Loved seeing your beloved Chef duke it out in Kitchen Stadium. And the tweetup concept made “Battle Mint” even more fun to watch (especially for those of us watching from home).
While the outcome was not what we expected (I mean COME ON how did he NOT win), his pride in representing the CLE was super endearing. You’re both winners in my book and I’m so glad to have come to know you both.
very much enjoyed watching at the noodlecat party. Your chef did a great job! and it was cute to see him standing watching the TV looking super nervous.
I don’t remember seeing any audience shots–were you there for the taping of the show?
My favorite part was when Chef Sawyer said “this is pretty much every night in Cleveland”. Not gonna lie, I got a little chocked up. I do think the outcomes favor the reigning ICAs but there was way more camera time spent on Chef Sawyer and his team so if we’re comparing who showed better and made for better TV, hands down it was #teamsawyer. And the food looked amazing too!!!
Renee and I were honored to participate in such a terrific event! It was so much fun watching the Twitter wall and seeing all the tweeps fiercely supporting #teamsawyer. The love and support shown by all was amazing but not a surprise. We’ve known for years that CLE has amazing people and amazing chefs. It was a great stage to show the rest of the world what we’re all about and to show how #teamsawyer brings it every single day. We are definitely Happy in CLE!
As for the outcome, while I have a lot of respect for Chef Z, I have to call BS on the crudite, too. I think if he had made that during the NIC competition it would have been deemed un-Iron-Chef-worthy. A win would have been the prefect ending to a great evening, but we couldn’t have asked for better ambassadors than #teamsawyer.
Congrats to you and all of #teamsawyer for doing it up with style to spare. You guys have class.
Paul @JourneymanCook´s last [type] ..A Kick In The Pantry
I loved watching your Chef. He made all of Cleveland proud!! How he could not have won — I don’t know!! Much more imagination than the Iron Chef Zakarian. Crudite??? Gimme ox tails!!!
So proud of #teamsawyer! You made Cleveland shine on national TV!
Jonathon was robbed.
I was pretty shocked John’s food looked amazing!! He did a great job only part I didn’t like was the ending. Love the stoner sandwich!
I was in the audience. I didn’t see us really either. We were to the left of the chairman. Also I didn’t mention this but during the taping the judge in the blue dress kept referring to Chef Z as Geoffrey. The director asked her to stop multiple times and her reply was, it’s so hard we’re long time drinking buddies. Yuck.
It was so much fun to watch – #teamsawyer was awesome! Like Mary said “you made Cleveland shine” on national television. What a great representation for our city. Made me very proud to be a Clevelander and feel we are so lucky to have such *incredible* talent within our city!
Absolutely. Thank you for all of the support!!
#teamsawyer fought hard, w/ elegance and CLE is quite proud! I did think it was odd that Chef Z. had Chef G. as a sous chef. Especially as she was in the running as a ICA herself. Not that cool.
congrats to you both and your restaurant! the event was super cool – thanks for hosting. i wanted to introduce myself but you seemed busy running around, next time!! also – i love how the chairman said saaaawyer!! (and if you host another tweet-up can we do name tags so we know who is who!!)
Shoulda told the lady in blue to cover her ta-tas. Unappetizing.
You never lose when you are true to yourself, do it with class (and humor), and obviously love what you do.
From where I sat in the window at Noodlecat, I watched Jon type out his first tweet after the results “CLE wins.” I couldn’t agree more. We get to eat his food anytime we want. We win.
I’m into being “at a moment.” I was at one of the CLE Indians World Series games in 1995, I was at the last CLE Browns game in the old stadium, I watched LeBron James play his first game in CLE. Those were all pretty special moments and feelings for this city, but I’ve never felt more proud to be from CLE than I did Sunday night.
I could use a stoner sandwich right about now…
Widow,
VERY proud of the whole GHT team!!! I was especially proud when I watched it Monday with my son on Tivo and he said to me “HEY, That’s chef Goodguy!!! He made us a special pizza last week!” Another reason why GHT and NC are among our favorite restaurants, you guys take time to offer personal friendly service and amazingly creative and tasty food. Keep rocking CLE!!!
Ed
Thanks a lot Shelley! I was hoping to ball my eyes out tonight.
Such a fun, unbelievable night! Loved seeing all those Clevelanders out supporting one of the very best in the city. Congrats on an awesome night and I was so happy to be involved!
Charlene´s last [type] ..Iron Chef America and Cleveland
Congratulations #teamsawyer and I think that includes you too! I was at home watching and tweeting and wishing I was able to taste the delicious looking dishes the Chef was preparing. Thank you for representing Cleveland and for doing it so well!
Rachael´s last [type] ..things i did this weekend
Cleshopaholic and Jessica B said it all. When I realized that not only was this Chef Z’s first Iron Chef competition, but that he also had Alex as his sous chef, I knew Chef Sawyer had a huge hill to climb. The show always favors their own and there was no way they would have their newly crowned winner lose his first battle.
That crudite was not only unimaginative, it was downright ugly. Since we took down your Wi-fi, my tweets about Alex’s toxic creme de menthe didn’t go through. Yuck! I know I can’t judge Chef Z’s food, as I wasn’t able to taste it. However, there’s no way Jonathon lost in plating and originality. And, having had the pleasure of tasting the passed plates, I find it difficult to believe Chef Z’s food tasted better.
Regardless of the outcome, #TeamSawyer made us all proud and your GHT family certainly shined on TV! Besides, being from #CLE, we’re so very used to “losing,” but still knowing in our hearts that we’ve won! The viewing party was a ton of fun and we all appreciate the hard work that went into making it so successful.
[...] Sawyer and Chef’s Widow are some of the most gracious hosts you’ll meet – down to earth, humble, and [...]
Love You So much amelia.
You are #teamsawyer, thanx for being there.