USPS Publication Number 16300
T h is C o m mu n i t y N ewsp a p er is a pu bl ica t ion of E sca m bia-S a n t a Rosa B a r Assoc ia t ion
Se r v i ng t he Fi r st Jud icial Ci rcu it
Section A, Page 1
Vol. 19, No. 41
Visit The Summation Weekly Online: www.summationweekly.com
October 9, 2019
1 Section, 8 Pages
TURN UP THE HEAT Local Chef, Worldwide Competition
BY kaitlyn peacock | PHOTO BY BARA'AH JARAISEH
Here in Pensacola, if you want good food, you don’t have to look very far. Downtown Pensacola is brimming with a whole host of wonderful eateries from al Fresco’s food trucks to the upscale Jackson’s Steakhouse and everything in between. But now, one Pensacola chef is taking their talents and competitive skills to the big league. Alex Carmona, the executive chef at V. Paul’s, will take part in the upcoming World Food Championship, Oct. 16 to 20 in Dallas, Texas. Carmona will be part of a two-man team where he will assist one of last year’s champions Nick Rickman. Carmona’s love of food was inspired by his mother, who he describes as being the best chef he’s ever worked under. His mother taught him at an early age to appreciate good food and gave him a strong foundation for his future culinary career. “My mom is a huge cook,” Carmona said. “When I was growing up, she was like my own little Gordon Ramsay. She was always yelling at me like ‘That’s not a tablespoon!’ She’s really funny.” After writing papers about wanting to become a chef in the third and fourth grade, Carmona went to the Pensacola State College for their culinary program and had his dream become a reality. Carmona has previously served as the executive chef at the Wine Bar here in Pensacola, as sous chef at the Wolf Bay Lodge in Alabama and even spent some time in the kitchen at V. Paul’s. After spending some time out of state, he returned and was offered the executive chef position at V. Paul’s, where he has been in January of this year. At age 25, he’s the youngest in the kitchen next only to his sous chef, who is 26, and is one of the youngest executive chefs in all of Pensacola. Despite his young age, Carmona came into V. Paul’s at a time when the restaurant was struggling and has implemented some changes that has brought it back to being one of the leading dining experi-
ences on Palafox. As executive chef, he leads a team of up to eight people during busy hours in the kitchen. Even though he is the youngest in the kitchen, he said that doesn’t really matter to the others. They work well together, and he thoroughly enjoys his time spent with so many other experienced chefs. “The best part of being in a position like that is actually the teaching aspect,” Carmona said. “When you get to teach people how to break down fish and how to handle large pieces of meat and why we do thing the way we do. When you get people who watch and actually appreciate it, even if they are older than me or however it works, people pick up on that and they love it and they really, really appreciate that you take that time out to work with them.” Since becoming executive chef, Carmona said he has taken great strides to honor the classic Italian roots of the restaurant. During his high school years, he was lucky enough to visit Rome, where he got an up close look and taste of real Italian food. He said he was inspired by the freshness of the food and with just how many things people could do with a tomato. That trip sparked a love of Italian food in particular that has served him well at the restaurant. “I like to get down and cook all the food. I still love to do all that,” Carmona said. “My position in the restaurant and the fact that I have a staff doesn’t make it any different. I still want to be using my hands and I still want to know what’s going on.” In the restaurant and his personal cooking, Carmona said he focuses on that freshness he remembers from his trip to Italy. To achieve this, he shops locally for many of the ingredients at the restaurant, including paying a few visits to Palafox Market and connecting with a local farmer. “When I was taught to make food, I
was taught from a fresh standpoint,” Carmona said. “The idea is you taste every single thing in the dish, and it should all stand out but it should be balanced. There should be tangy, there should be sweet, there should be savory. I try to involve every single element of your taste buds in every single dish.” While also pursuing a career as an executive chef, Carmona has also had the chance to participate in several cooking competition. While usually competing with a large team, Carmona had the chance to shine in a local food competition where he competed with his sous chef Daniel Williams. Carmona won the competition against some of Pensacola’s finest chefs, and after the competition, he was approached by Rickman. Impressed by his talent, Rickman asked Carmona to join him for the 2019 World Food Competition. Carmona said at first he didn’t believe Rickman, thinking it must be some kind of joke, but soon found out it wasn’t a joke. In no time at all, he was on the road to Dallas. The World Food Championship is an annual international cooking competition held in various cities around the world. Leading up to the competition, chefs go head to head in smaller challenges to qualify for the championship. There are several categories that the chefs can compete in, including barbecue, seafood, original recipe, chef and others. The championship is a tournament-style competition, starting with hundreds of teams from all over the world. Over the three-day competition, the best of the best are found, leading to a face off between the top 10 on the last day. The winner at the end is crowned champion of their category, with a prize of $10,000. In the months after the competition, the ten category champions then come back for a second round where the overall champion is decided. Rickman was the champion of the
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Chef category last year, but had competed in the World Food Championship beforehand, landing third place in the Steak category the year before his win. At the competition between the category champions, known as the Final Table, he earned second place. He is the executive chef at The Salt Block in Marianna, Florida. This year, Rickman is aiming to defend his champion title against 300 other teams in the Chef category. Carmona will act as his sous chef during the competition. Preparing for the competition, Carmona said he and Rickman have met to discuss strategies, but mostly he has been preparing by studying. A lot of studying. “I probably have 30 or 40 cookbooks on all different kinds of cuisines that I’ve been reading over,” he said. “You never know, there might be something from one cookbook you want to put with something from another cookbook. You might make the same recipe all the time but you read someone else’s recipe of the same thing and there’s one difference that makes it perfect. You might blend recipes and you might play with a lot of things, and that’s kind of what I’ve been doing.” Being able to represent not only himself but Pensacola on an international stage, standing next to the returning champion, Carmona said has been the highlight of his culinary career. “It’s an incredible feeling. Just to be part of it is incredible. With it being international and to be able to represent where I’m from is incredible as well,” Carmona said. “I never thought I’d be in this position, especially so young. To be on a large, global scale like that with so many other great chefs, I just can’t wait.” As for his confidence, well Carmona doesn’t seem all too worried about the world-class chefs he will be competing against. “Oh, I already know we are going to win,” he said.
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