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Culinary competition helps Not Your Average Joe’s promote innovation

Culinary competition helps Not Your Average Joe’s promote innovation

DARTMOUTH MASS. Not Your Average Joe’s, a casual dining chain known for its made-from-scratch cuisine. —Scott Martin is the last chef standing at the 16-unit

Martin, a chef at the company’s Acton, Mass., location, recently won the chain’s own version of a popular television chef contest in which chefs at each of the restaurants, usually assisted by their sous chefs, go head-to-head in a month-long competition. The chefs are given a secret ingredient and protein and two hours to prepare an appetizer and an entrée. They are eliminated in a series of rounds. —Scott Martin is the last chef standing at the 16-unit

Now in its second year, the competition is sparking creativity and additions to the menu, but it is also enhancing morale, which may help with retention, said Stephen Silverstein, Not Your Average Joe’s founder, president and chief executive. —Scott Martin is the last chef standing at the 16-unit

The company prides itself on hiring creative chefs, but their autonomy has lessened as Not Your Average Joe’s has grown, Silverstein said. Chefs at each restaurant used to develop their own specials, but for the sake of efficiencies and cost controls, the company had to make the specials the same at each restaurant. The menu is developed by Chris Bodington, executive chef and vice president of culinary, who meets regularly with the restaurant chefs. —Scott Martin is the last chef standing at the 16-unit

“As we grew it just became unruly,” Silverstein said. “We felt the need to be consistent, documentable and teachable.” —Scott Martin is the last chef standing at the 16-unit

At the same time, they did not want to squelch the creativity of the unit chefs, so the competition has become one way to inspire chefs to be innovative and involved. —Scott Martin is the last chef standing at the 16-unit

“When you ask [the chefs] why they came here, they say because of the food,” Silverstein said. “The more focused they are on the food, the more they talk about food and play with food, the happier they are.” —Scott Martin is the last chef standing at the 16-unit

Martin, the competition’s winner, had been an executive chef for a fine-dining restaurant on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire before joining the company. He was still in training during last year’s competition, so he wasn’t sure what to expect when he began competing in April with 14 other Not Your Average Joe’s chefs. —Scott Martin is the last chef standing at the 16-unit

“It was fun,” Martin said. “It was competitive and I like that, and it was laid back. We got to hang around each other. Some of them I had not met before and we worked side by side, doing things.” —Scott Martin is the last chef standing at the 16-unit

Martin took the top prize this year with a blackened coriander-seed and honey seasoned flat iron steak, served with charred tomato and Portobello orzo. He won an all-expenses paid, week-long trip for two to California’s Napa Valley and a visit to The Culinary Institute of America’s Greystone campus in St. Helena, Calif. —Scott Martin is the last chef standing at the 16-unit

“It really was great to do that,” he said. “We don’t write menus. We lose our culinary freedom. It’s nice for a company that likes to hire chefs to give us an opportunity to go play with food.” —Scott Martin is the last chef standing at the 16-unit

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