Seward Windsong Lodge’s executive chef represented Alaska at the Great American Seafood Cook-Off in New Orleans on Saturday, Aug. 6. Erik Slater was selected by Gov. Sean Parnell to represent Alaska at the national competitive cooking event. Participants were judged by dishes they created with seafood native to their home state.
As executive chef for CIRI Alaska Tourism’s (CATC) 180-room Seward Windsong Lodge in Seward, Alaska, Slater oversees food and beverage operations for the Resurrection Roadhouse Restaurant and the Goliath Bar & Grill, as well as all catering functions. Examples of Slater-designed entrée dishes at Resurrection Roadhouse include fiocchi, with cheese and pear stuffed pasta, gorgonzola walnut cream sauce and baby greens; pan seared halibut with arugula pesto, lemon mascarpone, polenta, grape tomato and balsamic reduction; and cioppino, with halibut, salmon, cod, king crab, spot prawns and fennel tomato broth. Slater also serves on the board of the Alaska Culinary Academy.
The cook-off was judged by Chef Rick Moonen, an advocate for sustainable seafood, restauranteur, cookbook author and finalist in Top Chef Masters; Laura McIntosh, host of traveling cooking show Bringing It Home; Chef Roland Schaefer of the American Academy of Chefs; Melissa Kogut, executive director of the Chefs Collaborative; and Will Blunt, managing editor of StarChefs.com.
CATC is Alaska’s largest locally owned tourism services company. It is wholly owned by CIRI and is a Minority Business Enterprise. CATC is the parent company of Seward-based Kenai Fjords Tours, Whittier-based Prince William Sound Glacier Cruises and Alaska Heritage Tours. Its properties include the Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge, the Seward Windsong Lodge and the Kenai Fjords Wilderness Lodge.
Learn more about the cook-off at www.greatamericanseafoodcookoff.com. Learn more about CIRI Alaska Tourism at www.ciritourism.com.
