The Takedown

photo by Joey Shemuel / Metromix

Thank you to all the 17 cooks who showed up with barrels of tofu food, each one a warrior vying for Takedown Glory! Thank you  Highline Ballroom!!!

photo by Joey Shemuel / Metromix

This takedown was amazing- definitely favoring the sweet over the savory- definitely savoring the badass over the uncool.  What a brilliant night! The lines moved like a greased eel! The recipes were all fun and different (Pretzel Pie? Tiramisu? Whuuut!) The competition was lowdown and mean! Thank you Brooklyn Kitchen – for generously giving awesome prizes so everybody felt like  a winner, even when they maybe weren’t!

photo by Joey Shemuel / Metromix

Congratulations to Sara Morrisson who won BOTH the Judges Prize and the much-coveted Popular Vote!!!! This has never happened before!!!  Oh and thanks to everyone who came and filled up on 17 different tofu recipes!!!

photo by Joey Shemuel / Metromix

MetroMix has a photo gallery up!

The Village Voice does too!

Popular Vote!!!:

1 #17 Sara Morrisson (Ethiopian Empanadas) WINS $100

2 #12 Mike O’Neil (Spicy Ginger Tofu) Wins a stinkin bad sushi knife from Brooklyn Kitchen

3  #2 Karol Lu (General Lu’s Tofu) and #14 Jui Shih (Handmade Tofu and Soymilk Icecream) both win massive cutting boards from Brooklyn Kitchen

Judges Awards:

1 #17 Sara Morrisson (Ethiopian Empanadas) wins a super tite vintage bowl form Brooklyn Kitchen

2  #14  Jui Shih (Handmade Tofu and Soymilk Icecream) wins a massive chopping block frBrooklyn Kitchen

3 Mike O’Neil (Spicy Ginger Tofu)
Best texture: Diane Spoto with the Mr. T Tiramisu (#9)
Best disguise of tofu: Kathy Patalski with the tofu lemon cups (#8)
Best interpretation of a classic dish: Karol Lu (#2)
Best interpretation of two food trends: Eve Dilworth – salty caramel ice cream topped with pear
Best presentation: Henry Chan and David Gottesman  (chocolate bonbons)
Worst-looking but most delicious: Noah Berland with the green tea custard brulee

photo by Mollye Chudacoff / Village Voice

Get ready to blood the deathfloor this Sunday! The inaugural Tofu Takedown begins its soy-based debauchery at 4:30PM – so buy your tickets online or show up at the door! Vegetarians are just as freaky as meaty people, don’t doubt it! Freakier, even…

I would be remiss not to mention that the dopest judges on the planet were handpicked by me for this, the most varsity of Takedowns- THE TOFU TAKEDOWN (May 10).
Cathy Erway is the defending third-place winner of Enid’s Apple Pie Cook-Off, co-host of the annual Risotto Challenge and the 2008 Great Hot Dog Cook-Off, and loser of many Chili Takedowns. Somehow this has qualified her to judge more cook-offs than she can remember. In her spare time, she enjoys writing about food at Not Eating Out in New York and cooking with supper clubs including the newly launched Hapa Kitchen. She would like to remind folks of a few tips: http://brooklynbased.net/everything/how-to-win-a-brooklyn-cook-off/

Akiko Moorman (Co-Founder of Hapa Kitchen, Chef de Cuisine) Akiko hails from Juneau, Alaska and Washington, DC, and has been at turns a gymnast, a firefighter and a cook under David Chang at Momofuku Noodle Bar. She likes mochi balls covered in cocoa, elaborate pranks and bear masks. Half-Japanese, half-American, yo.

Supertasters have it so bad! With more taste buds in their mouth than the average Joe, they taste TOO MUCH- and can’t enjoy stuff! Good thing I’m not one of those! Who knows why I’ve been selected to judge the Guactacular Invitational, but HOLEE WOW I’m pumped!!! And at the Bell House, no less!!  Thanks to organizer Lee Frank of NachosNY.com, this coming Tuesday, come eat competitive gwak, or simply watch and learn how a competition judge mulls over the subtleties of each offering, and like a GOD, gets to decide the winner!

Other gods include: Cathy Erway (crush attak!), Lisa Fain (wicked), Alexis Loinaz (wowza), and Rachel Anderson (oh MAN!)

In a bad ass effort to avoid ever seeing long lines again- you can now buy tickets online through TICKETWEB. Do you have any idea how awesome and professional that makes us look? Get your tickets now and garrantee yourself the chance to taste 30 different tofu masterpieces.  We are selling a limited number of tickets to keep the crowd cool, elite, and manageable!

The Brooklyn Kitchen is donating crazy prizes to winners (and losers) at the Tofu Takedown!!! They were super generous to all who entered at the Chili Takedown, so tofu contestants can expect great things- and full respect from Brooklyn’s leading kitchen supply store! Thanks Brooklyn Kitchen!! Big time!!!

as always, artist Matt Langland delivers the noisiest, most vicious Takedown art…

You begged for it!!! For too long, vegetarians have been unhappily doggy paddling  in a sea of comfort food. NO MORE.The most audacious takedown to date features TOFU, meat of the soy gods.  Some may interpret this as a smack in the porky face of the previous bacon takedown!!! All it is, is another takedown!!! We expect to see brilliant and innovative renditions of this malleable fruit! Tofu chili! Tofu brownies! Tofu ice cream! Email Matt Timms to enter!!!! We need cooks to sign up now!!!!

May 10th at Highline Ballroom!!! 4PM!!!

(Expect Matt Langland’s brutal metal poster by end of week!!!)

Email me to get in line for a limited edition Bacon Takedown Poster prints- featuring our intrepid Warrior Princess riding her warpig to battle! These heavy stock, beautifully printed posters are selling fast, so get on the list as Matt Langland prints up a few more for you! We are working on a run of “concert” style posters, perfect memorabilia from your bloody time in the arena!

all profit goes straight to the artist