Campagne Chef Daisley Gordon
Iron Chef America
 Watching
other people stress and sweat seems to be fascinating—there’s no denying
the pull of reality TV. It’s even more interesting when the person under
pressure is someone from your home town and maybe someone you know or
someone who has made your dinner. On October 11, Iron Chef America pitted
our own Daisley Gordon of Campagne against Bobby Flay (boos and hisses
on general principle). Without giving away much, Daisley has shared some
background.
Photo courtesy of Campagne
He doesn’t know why he was chosen, but he’s proud of the fact that
Campagne has had two chefs on the program. The first was Tamara Murphy,
now co-owner of Brasa and owner of the Elliott Bay Café. He watched the
show when she was on it and also when Tom Douglas was on. "I worked
briefly with Tom when I first came to Seattle," Daisley recalls. "And I
worked with Tamara at Campagne."
He was contacted in 2008 just a few weeks before the contest and
filming took place. "You have to madly organize your schedule and figure
out who you will take with you. Chefs are allowed to bring two people.
"I took Nikki Schiebal and Keiko Okuda with me. Nikki was a sous chef at
Campagne at the time and still works here occasionally, but is mainly
teaching now. Keiko was my lead cook, became a sous and then moved on to
another restaurant. It was easy for me to pick them for these
circumstances. You want people who take direction and respond well, but
who are also independent thinkers who can assess the situation and won’t
crumble under pressure. They have to be kind of steely."
It’s true that no one knows what the main ingredient will be when
they pull up the box. However, the chefs are told ahead of time that it
will be one of three ingredients. "You have to work on all three and
turn a surprise into something familiar. I think it works best to go to
what you know and are good at and what comes naturally. You can
practice, but you’re pretty much on your own when you get there."
With so many unknowns, the anxiety can be intense. And the chef has
no idea who he/she will be going up against. The program has a stable of
well-respected chefs, but no one knows which one will be their nemesis
until the actual night. And the hour deadline is real. "When you watch
the show and everyone is running around, that’s not for dramatic
effect," laughs Daisley. "It is for the amusement of the
audience, but if you don’t finish in that hour, you’re done."
Despite the pressure, Daisley would do it again, for several reasons.
"First, it was loads of fun and I was happy to be invited. It was also
very stimulating. You have to be completely turned on and focused to
survive. There’s no time to recover. You have to have a solid team. I
think it’s good to be challenged, to see what you’re made of. You don’t
always get that chance."
When people heard he’d gone up against Bobby Flay, Daisley heard a
lot of interesting comments and was asked a lot of questions about what
he’s really like. "I don’t know what’s out there, but I can tell you
that I found him to be very pleasant, professional and generous."
Campagne is located at 86 Pine Street in the courtyard of Inn at the
Market.
Connie Adams/October 2009 |
