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UB judge picks Cerza's wings as the winner
Recent UB grad takes part in "Throwdown with Bobby Flay"
By SUE WUETCHER
Reporter Editor
It was a tough job, but someone had to do it.
Greg Bacorn (left) and Dave Botticelli had the tasty task of picking the winning wing.
UB graduate Greg Bacorn recently took on the arduous task of being a judge for the chicken-wing cooking contest between superchef Bobby Flay and local wing wizard Drew Cerza that was featured on the Food Network show "Throwdown with Bobby Flay."
Bacorn, who received a bachelor's degree in history in May and served as hospitality and production manager for the undergraduate Student Association, said representatives of the Food Network contacted him about two months ago and asked him to be a judge for the "throwdown," which was held in late April at the legendary Anchor Bar.
The premise of the 30-minute show is simple: Flay selects a type of food, chooses someone who he considers to be a master chef in the selected category and then challenges that person to a cook-off, or "throwdown."
Bacorn, a resident of Dryden, near Ithaca in Central New York, said participating in the "throwdown" was "a wonderful experience."
"The set was laid back," he told the Reporter via email from Ithaca, where he is working as program director for the Country Club of Ithaca. "The Food Network had rented out the back of the Anchor Bar and there were a lot of spectators, as well as some members of the Buffalo Fire Department who were watching the cooking. There were six cameras capturing everything, and a lot of cues for the audience to 'oohhh' and 'ahh,'" he said. "The cameramen and sound techs were running around chasing people, trying to capture TV-worthy shots."
While Bacorn was at the Anchor Bar filming for about six hours, Flay was only there for about two hours. During the actually cooking, Bacorn had to sit at the bar. "The producer did not want me to be on camera when they were cooking the wings," he said.
So, how were the wings?
"Drew's wings were sloppy, wet and typical Buffalo wings," Bacorn said. "The blue cheese was excellent, and the carrots and celery provided the perfect touch.
"Bobby's wings had a hard skin, with a soft meat center," he noted. "The breaded wing held a lot of flavor. It was really spicy—a peppery kind of spicy. His blue cheese was chunky and there was some sort of exotic vegetable as decoration."
Bacorn said he was nervous during the judging. "There were three cameras in my face and I was pushed to say things on camera, so I was not really even able to taste too much. Plus, Bobby's wings were so spicy that my taste buds were having their own 'throwdown,'" he joked.
Bacorn noted that he and the other judge, Dave Botticelli, general manager of Duff's restaurant, were egged on by the show's producer to choose a certain chicken wing.
"We also had to do about three takes of the actual judging sequence," he said.
Cerza's wings ultimately were selected as the best.
Both chefs were likeable guys, Bacorn noted.
"On camera, Bobby Flay was very personable and enthusiastic. After the show finished taping, he signed a few autographs and talked to a few fans. But he was in and out. He flew back to New York City that night, just to come back to Buffalo the next morning."
And Drew Cerza, the "Wing King?"
"Drew was awesome," he said. "He walked right up to me after the show and started talking to me, asking who I was and what I did at the university. I was very happy to see how genuine he was."
The program, which first aired on June 14, will be rebroadcast at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday and 1:30 a.m. Wednesday.
To see it online, click here.