NOTE: This story was originally published in October in SeafoodSource’s Key Buyer 2023 Industry Update – Fall Edition.
Brody Olive’s dish featuring gafftop catfish, flash-fried mole crabs, Gulf shrimp horseradish cream, pickled purslane, and smoked paprika coral tuile earned the Orange Beach, Alabama, U.S.A.-based executive chef the coveted first-place crown in the 2023 Great American Seafood Cook-Off (GASCO), an annual culinary competition geared toward promoting sustainable, domestic U.S. fisheries.
Put on by the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board, the Louisiana Restaurant Association, Louisiana Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser, and ExploreLouisiana.com, the 19th edition of the GASCO event saw 12 chefs – and their sous chefs – go head to head in front of a live audience in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A., this past August. Following a one-hour cooking session, the chefs presented their seafood-starring dishes to a panel of industry-renowned judges to be scored on presentation, creativity, composition, craftsmanship, flavor, and more criteria.
As the executive chef for Alabama’s Perdido Beach Resort, Brody Olive oversees all food and beverage operations across five restaurants and banquet facilities. He has earned numerous accolades throughout his culinary career thus far, including being named Alabama’s “Chef of the Year” in 2017 by the Alabama Restaurant and Hospitality Association. Olive has “seamlessly acclimated to the coastal community of Orange Beach, where the popular fishing culture and salty breeze quickly became second nature to him,” according to his GASCO profile.
“It feels great. All the hard work finally paid off for us. I’m so happy our dish came together, and we were so happy to present it and be on this stage with the quality of these chefs, which is remarkable,” Olive said in his acceptance speech.
Competing alongside Olive was a roster of elite culinary talent from across the country, including Dockside Deli Room Head Chef Calvin Lipe, representing Mississippi; Roy’s Grille Owner and Chef Chris Williams, representing South Carolina; Boomtown Biscuits and Whiskey Executive Chef and Owner Christian Gill, representing Ohio; Burtons Bar and Grill and Red Heat Restaurant Group Culinary Director Eric Leblanc, representing Virginia; CRÚ Food & Wine Bar Partner and Chef Jesse Cavazos, representing Texas; Altura Owner and Operator Nathan Bentley, representing Alaska; The Bald & The Beard Restaurant Group Corporate Chef Orion Cordoves, representing Florida; Hot Tails Restaurants Executive Chef Owen Hohl, representing Louisiana; The Beehive Executive Chef Ryan Skeen, representing Massachusetts; and Bao Bao Dumpling House Chef de Cuisine Shaun Stoothoff, representing Maine.
The second-place prize went to Anchorage, Alaska-based Bentley, who, along with his sous chef Chris Whissell, prepared a prosciutto-wrapped mosaic of Alaska king crab accompanied by a carrot-saffron foam, crab shell nage, burnt citrus, herb oil, and mustard microgreens.
“It was an honor to represent Alaska and showcase some of the incredible seafood our oceans provide,” Bentley said. “Cooking Alaska seafood is part of who I am, and I love preparing it for guests at my restaurant, friends, and family because nothing compares to the quality and taste of wild Alaska seafood.”
An Alaskan “through and through,” Bentley was reared on family traditions of hunting and fishing in The Last Frontier state, per his GASCO profile. He opened Altura Bistro – a contemporary American restaurant specializing in elevated comfort food – in 2019 as a way to “enhance the culinary scene in Alaska.” Wine Spectator has honored Altura with an Award of Excellence for the past three years (2021, 2022, and 2023).
Rounding out the winners’ circle in 2023 was Ohio’s Gill, who took home third place with his Moroccan razor clam and red shrimp ceviche. Gill began his culinary quest at 7 years old, helping out in his grandmother’s home kitchen in Kentucky and then went on to put his chef skills to work with Walt Disney World, the Cincinnati Art Museum, and Rhinegeist Brewery as the curator of its Chef Recipes before joining forces with P.J. Neumann in 2019 to open Boomtown Biscuits and Whiskey. He’s appeared on several TV cooking programs, including Guy’s Big Project, Beat Bobby Flay, and Netflix’s Snack vs. Chef.
Tapped to judge the 2023 GASCO contest were Alabama Seafood Marketing Commission Chairman Jim Smith, who previously earned the title of King of American Seafood back in 2011; Chef Ari Miller, an accomplished restaurant owner who now serves as a private chef for investment groups, high net-worth individuals, and celebrities; Chef Kiki Aranita, a food writer, sauce entrepreneur, and recipe developer; and Benedict Advertising CEO Michael Benedict, who also owns Parker Stark Restaurant Group.
“The competition was tough. The competing chefs cooked great meals. They taste great and look great, and they do this all in one hour. My hat is off to the champion. We have crowned a great champion in Louisiana today,” Louisiana Lieutenant Governor Nungesser said.
In 2022, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A.-based chef Erin Miller was named the first-ever Queen of American Seafood for winning the 2022 GASCO contest with her preparation of a Cape Ann Tide Pool consisting of a consommé of lobster tails and dune rose pits, a scallop custard with corn, butter-poached sea beans, and a sauté of sweet margarine, corn, mussels, and scallops.
“We wanted to really focus in on the breadth of seafood available in Massachusetts, not only the fish and shellfish we know really well but also the things that grow along the shore. So, the dish is built around multiple layers of seafood and multiple layers of textures integrated with the sea beans and the garnishes that grow in the rocky shoals in Massachusetts,” Miller said of her winning dish during the 2022 competition. “I’m in probably my favorite city in the world right now. It just means so much to represent my state and be here with these extraordinarily creative chefs. It just makes this mean so much more.”
Photo courtesy of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI)
