The Next Iron Chef

Several weeks ago when I had the chance to do some photography at the Cleveland Food Show I got a big kick out of the Culinary students from several of the local high school’s vocational programs.

Oh the exuberance of youth.

I already alluded to this young fellow who is going to, “Attend and graduate from the CIA, then go to NYC and work in a number of restaurants and then come back to Cleveland a success and open a bunch of restaurants.” He was totally sure about his path.

I just had fun watching all the groups of students move around the convention floor, like flocks of white coated birds of prey swooping down on different exhibits.

And then there were some that were competing in different cooking competitions and demonstrations. The group that won this particular competition practically levitated off the stage when their names were called.

And then there was this young man.

I was busy observing the crowd and taking some pictures for my client when I looked to my left and saw him standing in front of the Wolf range. The rest of his group was still a bit of a ways down the aisle but there he was, very quietly and intently standing in front of the range.

And then, with a burst of energy, he begins to “cook”. This picture doesn’t convey how completely “in” to his cooking scenario he was. It may have been that he was the head chef at a famous NYC restaurant. Or perhaps the hottest chef on the Food Network at the moment. Or more likely he was competing in the finals of The Next Iron Chef.  Whatever he was, in his own mind he was totally there.

And then his friends showed up and the spell was broken.

But it was so fun to watch while it was going on.