It’s Top Chef meets LGBT concerns when The Taste of Provincetown, MassEquality’s annual fundraising event, takes over Provincetown’s Town Hall August 27. The art, food, and wine iinspired evening will feature delectable food from some of Provincetown’s most popular restaurants as well as a competition hosted by Top Chef finalist Tiffani Faison, pitting three of Provincetown’s finest chefs against each other in a five-ingredient cook-off, the QuickFire Challenge.
“This is our second year hosting this signature event,” says Miguel Rodriguez, director of development at MassEquality. “We do so many important things here, working with and for the LGBT community from the cradle to the grave, with so many new issues coming up all the time – anti-bullying, transgender equality, immigration issues – that engaging people to help is more important than ever.”
With Provincetown’s array of restaurants and chefs, “it was a no-brainer,” says Rodriguez. “It’s an opportunity to showcase these fantastic restaurants, with each contributing an amuse-bouche of some sort.”
This year, however, three restaurants are contributing significantly more than just an amuse-bouche: Relish, Victor’s, and The Mews are sending their chefs to participate in the Top Chef-style timed challenge, devised by Faison, and judged by Improper Bostonian society writer/contributing editor Dana Bisbee, celebrity couple The Hat Sisters (John Michael Gray and Tom O’Conner), and LGBT community organizer Ember Cook.
“I have to say I’m apprehensive,” admits Laurence de Freitas, chef at The Mews restaurant. “I don’t know much about the format—but that makes it exciting, too.” Michael Mishkin of Victor’s agrees. “It’s going to be a great time!” he exclaims energetically. “I’m looking forward to it.” And the response from Frank Vasello of Relish? “Oh, dear,” he says. “I can be really foul-mouthed when I’m working. I’ll have to be on my best behavior!”
Faison is reassuring. “My advice to the chefs is to just relax and have fun,” she says. “It’s what I told myself, too, when I was on the show. One competition doesn’t define you.”
She’s particularly pleased to be bringing this event to Provincetown. “It’s so special to me,” Faison says. “Especially as we’re specifically benefiting MassEquality. People said that it should close now that there’s equal marriage in Massachusetts, but that was just the beginning. It’s an organization that’s helping us achieve our goals, it’s pace-setting, and we need it.”
It was her connection to MassEquality that came first. “Tiffani told me once that she’d volunteer to help with anything,” says Rodriguez. “And I remembered! So when I thought about a format for this year—how do you outdo what you’ve done before? —I thought of the quick-fire challenge, and Tiffani was the obvious person to design and host the event.”
All four chefs are in agreement about the best dishes: they all incorporate fresh, seasonal foods. But signatures differ. Faison won’t talk about specifics, but does admit to having “greatest hits” in her restaurants, “so that there’s a small revolt when I try to take them off the menu!” Vasello likes slow-cooked food. “Braises, long-time stews, lamb shanks… anything like that is amazing,” he says. Mishkin’s favorites follow his own cravings, and always involve “bright fresh flavors. I like to flavor sauces with vegetable purees, that makes them lighter.” De Freitas’ favorite dishes are fresh as well: “I like to put up a dish that people like,” he says simply. “Anything with fish—I love finding different ideas for using fish.” There’s a pause, and he adds, “You know, I love doing everything, really. I love them all!”
So how will all these different styles and preferences work out in the competition? “We all have our own cooking styles,” says Faison. “The best thing for all three chefs to do will be to cook to their strengths—in other words, to be themselves!”
Faison has her mind torn between Provincetown and Boston, where she’s about to open a new restaurant, Sweet Cheeks, offering southern barbeque to New Englanders.
“Okay, I’ll answer the question,” she says, before any question has been asked. “There’s no cornbread. Cornbread isn’t southern, it’s a New England dish. There’s a learning curve … but I think people will like it. It’s not going to be either preachy or pretentious.”
That’s Faison’s style, and it’s Provincetown’s as well. Only one question remains: what does the winning chef get out of it?
“Bragging rights,” laughs MassEquality’s Rodriguez.
MassEquality’s The Taste of Provincetown event will be held on Saturday, August 27, 6 - 9 p.m. at Provincetown Town Hall, 260 Commercial St. Individual tickets to the event are $125, with sponsorships beginning at $250. All proceeds go to MassEquality, a grassroots organization that works to achieve full equality for the LGBT community. For more information, call Contact 617.878.2303, e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or visit www.massequality.org.