Six Staffers Face Off At Uchi's 86'd Competition

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• Competitors Joe Zocolli, Amanda Turner, Sharon Bright, Brian Bush, Jessica Rupert, Annie Hongkham.
• Philip Speer gives a pep talk.
• Jack Yoss brings in the ominous mystery ingredient bags.
• A little advice, please?
• Judges Pat Sharpe of Texas Monthly and Uchi's Philip Speer.
• Judges Deb of the Jason & Deb Morning Show on 101x, Uchi chef/owner Tyson Cole.
• Amanda wins!

Six Uchi/Uchiko/Uchi Houston staffers, finalists in the restaurant group's Chopped-style cooking showdown 86'd, competed for bragging rights and prizes on Saturday morning at Uchiko.

The competition is open to any non-chef staffer at the restaurant group, from line cooks to servers. This year's competitors were Amanda Turner and Joe Zoccoli, line cooks from Uchi, production chef Brian Bush and line cook Annie Hongkham at Uchi Houston and line cook Jessica Rupert and server Sharon Bright at Uchiko. Their mystery ingredients included a whole bass, Chinese celery, spicy wasabi peanuts, calamari steak, cranberries and Jester King's Le Petit Prince Farmhouse Table Beer.

In the end, Uchi line cook Amanda Turner took home the title of 86'd champion, and Eater Austin photographer Spencer Selvidge was on hand to chronicle the competition. Click through the slideshow above to watch the Uchiko action.

· Uchi [Official]
· All Uchi Coverage on Eater Austin [-EATX-]
· All Competitions Coverage on Eater Austin [-EATX-]