Our first Seafood Throwdown in New York City!  And, we are excited to have Chef Teresa Montano of Colors Restaurant in New York City face off against members of the artist collective Spurse, in a heart-pounding race to transform a secret locally caught seafood, combined with whatever they choose from the farmers market vendors, into culinary delights. The seafood is revealed to the competitors only moments before the competition begins, and then it’s a contest of speed and creativity.

Our first Seafood Throwdown in New York City!  And, we are excited to have Chef Teresa Montano of Colors Restaurant in New York City face off against members of the artist collective Spurse, in a heart-pounding race to transform a secret locally caught seafood, combined with whatever they choose from the farmers market vendors, into culinary delights. The seafood is revealed to the competitors only moments before the competition begins, and then it’s a contest of speed and creativity. Judging this spectacular competition will be Food Network Sous Chef Miriam Garron and Food Network Magazine Recipe Developer, Claudia Sidoti, Greenmarket/GrowNYC’s Executive Director, Marcel VanOoyen, and Long Island fisherman Phil Karlin with restaurant owner Jimmy Carbone of Jimmy’s No. 43 giving the play-by-play of the entire event. 

This Seafood Throwdown is a little different as it kicks off a two-year tour of public events for Spurse’s mobile installations, collectively called OCEA(n): Ocean Commons Entanglement Apparatus (in the absence of the concept of ‘Nature’), which is on display at the Kitchen as part of Whitney Museum of Art’s Independent Studies Program.  OCEA(n) designed to introduce people to the complexities of gathering and at the same time protecting living resources of the sea.  Inspired by NAMA’s book Sharing The Ocean, this installation is intended to enable educational events such as “Seafood Throwdowns” through its innovative design capable of staging a wide range of unexpected encounters. During its journey along the Northwest Atlantic coastline, OCEA(n) will wander across various geographic, ecological and institutional boundaries to revisit contemporary ideas about cultural-natural world relationships.

For this event, OCEA(n) will be moved from the exhibit hall and installed at the market as the provisional kitchen. Chefs will be assigned a team of young art patrons participating in Whitney’s Family Program to aid them in shopping and preparation. Each chef will be allowed to bring three of his/her favorite ingredients to the market.  After they discover their secret seafood, each team will get $100 to spend at the farmers market in a 20-minute shopping frenzy. The teams will then have an hour to cook and plate their creations for the judges.  Public tastings will be available.

The event is a collaboration between Spurse, Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance (NAMA), GrowNYC/Greenmarkets and Whitney Museum of American Art.  It promises to be a fun, educational and community-driven activity designed to link the importance of locally caught seafood to the health and resilience of our ocean: Know your seafood; know your local fishermen; and know your local fishery ecosystem and how it fares!

Download the press release for more information.