Patrick Shanahan/University Photography

Richard Rupe, Cutthroat Competition winner, finishes cooking tofu.

Pans swirl. Knives flash. Hands, fast as lightning, grab spoons, pinch spices, pour liquids, stir solids. Four competitors from Cornell Dining’s staff battle the clock to make their favorite dishes.

And then Jet Tila – restaurateur, celebrity chef, judge on the Food Network’s “Cutthroat Kitchen” and emcee of Cornell’s first Cutthroat Competition – introduces a “sabotage” item. It might be that one of the competitors is required to use a mini-cookware set, or another must put their taco tortillas through a slicer or wear an oversized French mime suit while finishing a crepe. The sabotage item almost inevitably affects the dish’s final appearance.

In this three-round elimination contest, the competitors were asked successively to make their favorite breakfast, taco and crepes. As they finished each round, each dish for was judged by Max Aronson ’19 – former participant on the Food Network program “Chopped: Teen Redeem” competition – for presentation, flavor and resemblance to the item attempted. With each round, one competitor of the four – Adam June, Cook House Dining; Richard Rupe, Robert Purcell Marketplace Eatery; Terry Silba, North Star Dining; and Amber Deemer, Risley Dining – was eliminated, until only one, Rupe, remained.

About 150 students, staff and family members watched the competition April 11 in the Robert Purcell Community Center, cheering on their favorites and lining up for Tila’s autograph.

The four competitors agreed that initially the event was stressful, but once they started cooking, everything fell into place.

“It’s just like cooking in a restaurant with an open kitchen,” Rupe said, drawing on his experiences in catering, fine dining and at Cornell. Even the sabotages did not faze him: “As in a restaurant, something always comes up, whether it is an ingredient you run out of, or a piece of equipment that fails. You have to work off the cuff.”

“It was so much fun,” said Deemer, the runner-up who says she grew up “glued” to the Food Network. “I love doing what I’m doing,” she said of her work at Cornell.

Patrick Shanahan/University Photography

Jet Tila holds Amber Deemer's mime suit away from the stove while she continues to cook.

“I learned everything I know from the chefs here,” June said. He came to Cornell nine years ago with a background as a dishwasher. Silba had run a coffee shop in Johnson City, New York, until it was destroyed in a 2011 flood; in charge of everything at the coffee shop, she soon discovered she had a lot still to learn when she came to Cornell.

Regardless of their previous experience, all contestants exemplify what Cornell Dining is about, said executive chef Steve Miller. “We are committed to developing from within. The opportunities you have here – the trainings, the competitions, having Jet come – they are all part of that,” he said.

This was Tila’s second visit to Cornell. In 2011 he taught basic Asian cooking skills. “After he left, we thought it would be fun to invite him back for a competitive format,” said Gail Finan, director of Cornell Dining. Holding the competition required a team effort. Harry Ashendorf, operations manager, noted, “We had at least eight front-line workers involved in organizing the ingredients and supplies, along with second-year culinary students from BOCES, as well as staff who helped clean up afterward.”

This year, Tila again held workshops with dining staff, giving them a better understanding of Asian cuisine and upcoming culinary trends. “The students eat to relax, so it matters that we serve them food that they enjoy,” Ashendorf said. Addressing Rupe, he said, “You guys make a difference every day.”