GILROY—The crowd at the Gilroy Garlic Festival’s Cook-off stage was fixated on center stage Friday afternoon. The air was thick with the aromatic fragrance of garlic lingering under the stadium’s canopy. The contestants—both restless and excited—patiently awaited to hear their fate.
Suddenly, cheers rang loudly from the stands as the winner is announced: Santa Clara University won the Gilroy Garlic Festival Garlic Bowl for the second year in a row.
Winners Josh Grimes and Mauricio Vallejo competed against teams representing Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, California State University, Chico and University of San Francisco.
“I was feeling very confident,” Grimes, Executive Sous Chef of Bon Appetit Management Company, said. “I was very happy with what we produced. We worked very hard on it and I think it just came through.”
Grimes, who had competed in the competition the previous year, was eager to defend his title. Their asian-inspired dishes delighted the judges and awarded Santa Clara University’s team with its consecutive win.
“We did such a good job the first time and we did such a good job the second time,” Grimes said. “So we definitely are coming back next year.”
Although the duo felt extremely confident presenting their dishes to the judges, Vallejo admits there was nervousness prior to the competition.
“We got here kind of early,” he said. “We were sitting around kind of trying to fight our nerves back. You try to calm yourself and just get ready for this because it is an hour and it goes by faster than you actually think once your head’s down and actually working.”
Grimes and Vallejo have won not only bragging rights, but also $5,000 in scholarships for the students of Santa Clara University. All participating universities walked away with $1,000 for their college’s general scholarship fund.
An ensemble of five accomplished judges graded each entry on five factors—texture, flavor, creativity, presentation and use of garlic.
Danae McLaughlin was amongst the panel of expert judges who selected the winning dishes. McLaughlin has been the executive sous chef at the Harker School for 10 years and has also worked at country clubs and Michelin star restaurants throughout her culinary career.
Her favorite dish of the day was Grimes and Vallejo’s first meal. She describes it as being “really, really amazing.”
McLaughlin has judged the competition since it’s conception three years ago and understands the many challenges that competitors encounter during their hour to cook up something truly tasty and unique.
“It’s not going to go the way you expect it,” she said. “It’s seeing how these teams deal with the environment that they’re in… the heat, the wind and whatever else they get.”
McLaughlin appreciates the dedication and commitment all the competitors displayed throughout the day, despite the many pressures of the competition.
“These teams come in and, you know, they’ve put their hearts and soul out there,” McLaughlin said. “They’ve got an hour and nothing goes the way that you expect it to—and we know that.”
