America’s Best Seafood Chef announced

Florida chef Terry White was named the winner of the 2014 Great American Seafood Cook-Off last weekend. White, who is the executive chef of Sage Restaurant in Tallahassee, Florida, prepared a country ham-encrusted Gulf cobia with spiny lobster gyoza, caramelized baby bok choy and a Florida orange and saffron emulsion. Larry Delgado of Texas came in second and Louisiana’s own Aaron Burgau of Patois Restaurant (and recent King of Louisiana Seafood winner) took third with a dish of sautéed grouper, grilled Gulf shrimp, sweet corn sabayon, charred okra and smoked Creole vinaigrette.

White said in a press release that he never lost confidence in his food: “I knew if I could just get it on a plate for the judges, they would recognize the quality of the dish.”

The event featured 18 chefs, competing for the coveted title of America’s Best Seafood Chef, and Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne said White’s dish “captivated the judges’ taste buds among such a talented field.”

For more information on the competition and chefs, visit louisianaseafood.com.—Matthew Sigur