The moment that
”
Daygo Brothers
”
Dave Bozzo and Don DeLorenzo showed up in boxing-style robes
escorted by
”
Daygo Girls
”
in red halter tops and tiny white shorts at the Gilroy Garlic
Festival, it became obvious Friday’s first
”
City vs. City
”
challenge would be no ordinary event.
The moment that “Daygo Brothers” Dave Bozzo and Don DeLorenzo showed up in boxing-style robes escorted by “Daygo Girls” in red halter tops and tiny white shorts at the Gilroy Garlic Festival, it became obvious Friday’s first “City vs. City” challenge would be no ordinary event.
By the end of the competition, Maurizio Cutrignelli and Jack Edwards of Fuzia Restaurant came out on top, but the Daygo Brothers had the crowd’s support with their zany antics and silly banter.
“Our whole game plan was distraction,” DeLorenzo said after the event.
More than 300 attendees, including dozens from Gilroy and at least a few from Morgan Hill, showed up Friday to check out the first-time South County competition.
While Cutrignelli and Edwards meticulously cooked up gourmet dishes, the Daygo Brothers kept folks entertained as they threw ingredients into the pan, juggled condiments and inadvertently set fire to paper towels on a couple of occasions.
Although Bozzo and DeLorenzo have plenty of cooking experience between them — both are former presidents of the Gilroy Sportsman Chefs Club along with Bozzo overseeing Gilroy Grill Catering — they indicated from the get-go that they were the underdogs. To accentuate the point, a couple of young girls came in with a cookbook to provide them some aid.
As the competition moved forward, the Daygo Girls gave massages to the Morgan Hill cooks and tried to distract them in other ways, prompting Cutrignelli at one point to act as if he were going to burn them with a frying pan.
“You don’t want to burn yourself,” he said repeatedly with a grin.
Each team was allowed to bring five secret ingredients along with the teams being presented with surprise a box of local and regional ingredients that they could view five minutes prior to the competition. Those included Monterey calamari, olive oil from Corning, garlic from Gilroy-based Christopher Ranch and Morgan Hill’s own Monterey Mushrooms.
A spirited crowd of family members in the audience cheered on the Daygo group, with relatives coming from as far away as New York.
As time wound down and with the Morgan Hill chefs completing their dishes, judge Luca Rutigliano of CordeValle asked the Daygo crew what was taking them so long.
When the emcee announced only seven minutes were left, a supporter of the Daygo Brothers piped up, “Is this Italian time or regular time?”
In the end, the Daygo Brothers produced a mixture of mushrooms, scampi over pasta and grilled asparagus among other dishes.
Cutrignelli and Edwards’ culinary creations included pasta, calamari with bread crumbs and bruschetta.
Judges said they were impressed with pastas from both sides, although Judge Alan Heinzen said the Daygo Brothers’ calamari was slightly dry.
Even when Cutrignelli and Edwards came out on top, the Daygo Brothers clearly had a great time.
“We had a blast,” DeLorenzo said. “At first it was a little unnerving. We hadn’t planned on the calamari. That threw us a bit.”
Edwards indicated that white truffle oil — one of the secret ingredients used with their bruschetta — played a part in their success.
“You always bring the white truffle oil,” he said with a sly grin.
