When Connecticut chef Adam Greenberg opened his basket during a taping of Food Network’s ‘Chopped,’ he anticipated ingredients — fruits, vegetables, meats and other raw materials to transform into a “late-night dish.” What he didn’t expect to see was an already-composed order of Canadian poutine.
“It was a dish of coagulated cheese and gravy and fries that were cold,” he said. “It was actual finished food dishes and then you had to..deconstruct, take it apart, to create something entirely different…You have to roll with it.”
Greenberg will appear on the competition program Feb. 24. It’s his first national TV appearance, and while he can’t divulge the results ahead of time, he says the show’s production and timing is “completely accurate” and true to what viewers see at home.
“Late Night Food Brawl” is the theme of the episode. A Food Network description references the “carb-heavy Canadian snack” Greenberg faced in his basket, along with Italian sausage. Chefs must also “transform tiny burgers for entrees and incorporate burritos into their desserts.”
The chefs are given no hints or suggestions before they receive a basket of secret ingredients; they’re trusted to come up with required dishes based on their creativity and skill level. “I would say you get a minute and a half to stare at your [basket] of food and think, OK, this is what you’re going to do,” Greenberg said.
Despite the intense circumstances, with limited cooking time (20 minutes) “the minute you see the food, your instincts kick in and I definitely surprised myself for sure,” Greenberg said. “I expected to compete and do well, but I was even more surprised by the fact that I was able to create — or even think of that — in that short amount of time.”
Greenberg, who began his career as a cook at 18 for Billy Grant at Bricco, holds a culinary degree from Johnson & Wales University and until recently served as Barcelona Wine Bar’s executive chef, overseeing the expanding restaurant group’s kitchens and assisting in training. He now works with the owners of the Fortina restaurants in Westchester County, N.Y., (where chef Christian Petroni is also a Barcelona alum) who are preparing to open a Stamford location in June.
He’s also keeping an eye out for potential new opportunities in West Hartford, where he’d like to partner up with another restaurateur. “I don’t want to open one restaurant. I want to have multiple [concepts], bring some cool food to the area,” he said. “The state itself is really doing awesome stuff these days. I hope to be a part of that in the near future.”
Greenberg says he hopes his ‘Chopped’ appearance will represent Hartford County’s restaurant scene well. “[Years ago] there was this kind of weird sense in the air that it was chefs against chefs. I hated that,” he said. “It sort of felt like a competition. Over the years, all the chefs have learned, what’s good for you is good for me is good for everybody… That’s been a huge shift over the past five years in Hartford. It’s been awesome. That was in the back of my mind too, that you’re representing this group of people, and I wanted to make sure I did a good job of that.”
‘Chopped’ airs Feb. 24 at 10 p.m. on the Food Network.
