By: Carisha J.

Everyone enjoys the experience of trying delicious, freshly made gourmet food from top of the line chefs. To stay productive during these trying times and the pandemic, Brady Lowe and DJ Lord begin doing a Café Quarantine, which is a opportunity for guests to eat, drink, and listen to music. They took it to a new level turning it into a competition, with 2 Chefs producing their best plates for the judges to rate their favorite.  Owner of ‘The Pantry Atl’, Brady Lowe and Maxim Magazine heated things up a notch hosting this kitchen cook-off, and bar competition starring Chef Mendin and Craig Richards with music by DJ Lord. The bar competition included a punch off to see who could whip up the best Fish House Punch. The judges were each sat bar style and enjoyed being catered to by each chef serving their best dishes. The atmosphere was quite lively, and all the guests were upbeat and enjoying the event. The competition highlighted aquaculture, great chefs, the best bar keeps and DJ Lord of Public Enemy. The event was live streamed on Maxim Magazine’s Facebook page with several fans tuned in and watching everything go down in real time.

Chef Mendin from Miami was one for the books with his hibachi lobster dish and said it is the most sustainable seafood.  The 2x winning food champ in Miami says he enjoys cooking with lobster. He flew into Atlanta to be a part of this competition which was inspired to set the bar in the culinary industry, especially pushing plant-based food. He and Craig Richards the 2^nd chef in the competition, met in Miami and have been friends for a few years now both having a huge love for the art of cooking. A&R of Familiar Territory Records. Digital Ro Dope 1 of the judges for the competition said that everything was amazing, and the plates had a wide variety of ingredients with a lot of time put into it. Craig Richards who is from Atlanta, created a mouthwatering lobster dish brushed with a Japanese Togarashi butter and pressed in sesame seed, sunflower seeds, poppy seeds and plated over a corn and vegetable puree.

The judges were using score cards to pick 1 winning bar keep who had the best fish-house punch and the chef with the best dish. They were judging on presentation, sustainability, food taste and could also give out bonus points.

This was the 1^st Fish House Competition in Atlanta, Ga and if you missed it, do not be sad because this is just the beginning. Follow The Pantry Atl for more upcoming events and mixers. The drink feature choices were between a Wheatley Vodka or Buffalo Trace Bourbon. The cooks choose Lobster and Red Snapper for their dish selections. Everyone apart of this outstanding event did an excellent job on their delivery, and after the votes were tallied, the winners were announced.  The winning bar keep was Ryan Smith for his Fish House Punch. He was awarded with a golden fish and a miniature barrel of whiskey.  The winning chef was Chef Mendin. Look at the entertaining live stream below.