Just a general question for those that have competed and hopefully scored well in the past at The Royal in the additional categories.......no details or secrets or recipes, just experience based advice.
We tend to overthink the room (even at local contests) but especially The Royal. We have tried to WOW the judges with complex dishes that were visually stunning, creative and "out of the box" as well as obviously delicious. Not sure we always accomplished that goal but we tried LOL.
Obiously we talk to a lot of teams as everyone does and I just have heard too many stories of "we got 5th last year with a johnsonville/bob evans fatty" or "got a call with some jazzed up bushs grilling beans" to ignore them or pass them off as ALL tall tales over too many beers.
I think we need to stop making dishes like we are on Chopped and just focus on a good basic yet great tasting category dish. Our dishes haven't tanked but just muddled around decent score wise.
Are you guys doing better with your dishes at The Royal when you pull out all the bells and whistles like some Iron Chef or have your bare bones, basic yet tasty dishes done just as well or better??
Or is it just the absurd crapshoot that is The Royal and the massive amount of entries and judges will always produce a randomness that is beyond worrying about??
Thanks.
We tend to overthink the room (even at local contests) but especially The Royal. We have tried to WOW the judges with complex dishes that were visually stunning, creative and "out of the box" as well as obviously delicious. Not sure we always accomplished that goal but we tried LOL.
Obiously we talk to a lot of teams as everyone does and I just have heard too many stories of "we got 5th last year with a johnsonville/bob evans fatty" or "got a call with some jazzed up bushs grilling beans" to ignore them or pass them off as ALL tall tales over too many beers.
I think we need to stop making dishes like we are on Chopped and just focus on a good basic yet great tasting category dish. Our dishes haven't tanked but just muddled around decent score wise.
Are you guys doing better with your dishes at The Royal when you pull out all the bells and whistles like some Iron Chef or have your bare bones, basic yet tasty dishes done just as well or better??
Or is it just the absurd crapshoot that is The Royal and the massive amount of entries and judges will always produce a randomness that is beyond worrying about??
Thanks.
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