Yes, tickets for the finale are officially on sale. There will only be one seating for the finale and the winner will be announced live.
Chef Luis Navarro of Lola’s and The Social List narrowly ousted Chef Jason Witzl of Ellie’s in the first round of the semifinals of the inaugural Long Beach Grand Prix Fixe competition. Very much mimicking the experience of his first battle in Bracket One, Chef Luis proved that a Long Beach culinary veteran who’s been serving the community for nearly two decades can rise up.
“This was a menu where we were really stepping outside our comfort zone,” Chef Luis said. “And while I know everyone says this, I have to emphasize how much of this was a team and family effort—I have all my co-pilots in there with me, and they deserve the light as much as any of us do. The respect and friendship I’ve built with Chef Jason over the years only solidifies how special this whole night is for me.
The spread between the two chefs was wildly close—as in we had to count thrice to make sure our numbers weren’t off. Two points; just like Chef Luis’s first round. That’s it.
For the semifinals, we listened to patrons’ suggestion of making the voting card more sophisticated. In that sense, diners were able to choose one plates presentation over its taste, for example. Each patron had 10 points to distribute across both chefs.
Two Long Beach titans. One battle.
It was a battle for the ages in Long Beach as the night saw two of the most prominent and respected chefs in our food community battle it out head-to-head. Undoubtedly, the two veterans of the competition—each has both the most experience and most significant presence in the city compared to the array of other chefs—faced each other professionally in a way neither had before.
The result? A genuinely magical night that happened to fall on the literal day of Ellie’s 8th birthday.
“Tonight is Ellie’s 8th birthday—to the day,” Chef Jason told a crowd of diners. “And, let’s just be honest, this couldn’t have happened then. But to see this city’s growth when it comes to food has been incredible… And to share a night like this, where people are judging us because they respect our craft, makes it even more special. Because, trust us: we’re used to being judged,” he said, laughing. “It’s nice to have it, this time around, come from people who understand our industry and our work.”
The Long Beach Grand Prix Fixe semifinals are all about fusion cuisine—and Chef Luis, according to patrons, nailed just that.
Chef Luis came with a menu that melded two of his largest influences: His Mexican heritage and his family’s love of all things Italian. The result was a pushing of boundaries that, if I may so personallly, I had never seen from Chef Luis. We’re talking hand-made papparadelle—in the presence of Chef Jason, no doubt—layered with umami-packed ingredients: black truffle, huitlacoche, and taleggio cheeses.
“I call those ingredients the three narcissists,” Chef Luis said, chuckling. “If you’re serving truffle or huitlacoche or taleggio, those are going to be ingredients battling for the spotlight. But in this sauce, they just meld together beautifully.
Bluefin crudo with hints of limoncello. A short rib with an eight-hour sauce, confit, and chanterelle mushrooms. An Italian play on fresas con crema via a panna cotta one diner said was like “reliving my childhood in a different dimension.”
For Chef Jason Witzl, a travel around the world for his fusion offerings.
Levantine. Italian. Asian. Californian.
Chef Jason Witzl, per usual, played around. And played around a lot, with a layering of textures and flavors that were intensely well-melded. A sea bass layered with a bright zhoug sauce, pickled sun-dried tomatoes, foie gras hummus, and a chickpea salad that was perfectly fine on its own as an end-of-summer affair. Lamb chops drizzled in a golden raisin-peach reduction and served with smoked eggplant smeared beneath it.
It wasn’t just an ode to fusion; it was a reflection of the food Chef Jason consistently churns out at Ellie’s and Ginger’s.
A few personal words on the Long Beach Grand Prix Fixe.
As someone who has known the majority of these chefs rather intimately, I cannot say on a personal level how proud I am of what was accomplished on night one. Nerve-wracking. Excitement-inducing. Definitely worth every ounce of effort put it, what makes this competition so wildly fulfilling is witnessing the evolution of these chefs as the competition continues.
As someone involved in the very gregarious group text we have, they are not just proud of themselves and their culinary purveyors, but also proud of the city they represent. Ultimately, Long Beach is worth such a competition—and the chefs themselves are honoring their belief in that ideal through these ambitious menus.
Even more, this event is truly a collaborative effort. Wicked Wolf has been at nearly every single event offering up welcome drinks to guests. Everyoen from Gemmae and Nonna Mercato to Foodologie and Telefèric have given guests gift bags…
And more recently, Elite Foodservice Solutions has brought on some gorgeous china—from brands like Revol, Le Creuset, Haand, Ginori1735, Vista Alegre, Villeroy & Boch…—for our chefs to choose from to make the meal more special. Those incredible crystal wine glasses? Courtesy of Hospitality Brands via Elite Foodservice Solutions.
The Long Beach Food Scene: moving onward and upward
This event has not only showcased chefs in a way never seen before but also highlights how incredible the Long Beach food scene and community—beyond the keyboards—really is.
Next up? Chef Max Pfeiffer of Sky Room versus Chef Jason Winters of Speak Cheezy on Oct. 13 in the last semifinal. Two tickets left. And yes, tickets for the finale are officially on sale.
