MY HOTEL LIFE: Lawyers cook their way to culinary nirvana

The popularity of the JW Chef School has reached new heights when we hosted our largest group yet this past week. Thirty five members of a local law firm entered our JW Kitchen Stadium with "deer in a headlight" looks when they realized that they were going to embark on a team building event none of them have ever encountered in the annals of corporate events. But as soon as the group was divided into teams, the competitive juices started flowing and

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the stadium got a bit louder with friendly taunting from the teams. Bonus points for the most fun name was awarded to team "Sue Chefs," aptly name for this bunch of legal culinary neophytes.

With music pumping, steaming pots boiling, and the frequent bursts of laughter from the participants - this once timid group began to find their grooves. They were given a little bit over an hour to create an appetizer and entree dishes for judging. With assistance from their respective culinary coaches, each team chopped, steamed, sauteed and plated each course with culinary precision and artistic input. As one of the culinary judges, I must admit that this group presented us with dishes that were unexpectedly very delicious with layers of flavors usually reserved for the kitchen professional.

In the end, there was one winning team, however, no one went home empty handed for this event is something each member of the group will relish for a while. Perhaps, until the rematch in 2011. Game on!