Burrito Bowl | Poe’s Kitchen at The Rattlesnake

Everyone may have been hyped up about the Superbowl last weekend (or maybe not without Tom Brady’s coif on the field) but the only bowl I was interested in was the Boston Burrito Bowl. Held last Saturday at Poe’s Kitchen at The Rattlesnake, the NFL-themed event took seven Boston chefs and pitted them against each other to see who had the winning combination of ingredients. Each bowl was to be made with the theme of an assigned NFL team so the dishes got pretty creative, some with construction and others with ingredients.

Each attendee casted a ballot to vote for the people’s choice winner and the guest judges, Dan McCarthy from Urban Daddy, Jenny Johnson of NECN’s TV Diner and the Josh Walovitch, the Boston Herald Burrito Boy also chose a winner.

Standout Burrito Bowls

Chef: Laura Henry-Zoubir of Church and the Reagle Beagle. Team: New Orleans Saints. Burrito Bowl: breaded cajun red fish with New Orleans dirty rice and pickled okra.

This was my personal favorite. I voted for you, Laura! She was the only girl the competition and she wasn’t messing around. The dish was PERFECT for the New Orleans Saints.

Chef: Jason Santos of Gargoyles on the Square. Team: The New England Patriots. Burrito Bowl: Fritos topped with BBQ pulled pork and whipped sour cream.

The people’s choice award winner! ::and the crowd breaks out into applause::

Very, very creative. Not really reminiscent of a burrito perse, but tasty nonetheless. This seemed to be the favorite among the men. Every guy I talked to was raving about it. Guys just love chips.

Chef: Erwin Rmos of Ole and Olecito. Burrito Bowl: Braised pork burritos marinated in chiles, pineapple, brown sugar and just about everything you would ever want pork to be marinated in. Served with an actual tortilla and mexican rice. Loved it.

Honorable Mention Burritos

Left: Chef Brian Poe’s of Poe’s Kitchen: duckfat poached chicken burrito topped with sweet potato, corn and pancetta guacamole. I wasn’t a huge fan of the chicken, but the guac was something else.

Top Right: Chef Andy Husbands of Tremont 647: Salmon tartare, not really sure what the other ingredients were here, but I think there was some mango involved. This was different and also very creative, but not my favorite.

Bottom Right: Chef Jason Hutchinson of Boloco: Boloco’s own Memphis BBQ Burrito, served in little cups. I had never ordered the Memphis BBQ from Boloco and it is now on my radar. Loved it, but it was no standout.

Waiting for the winner to be announced

O hai Tiffani Faison! Top chef holla. We ran into her while waiting for the winner to be announced. We also saw Bianca from Confessions of a Chocoholic, Nicole from I am a Honey Bee and Will from The Boston Foodie.

The pressure is building…

The Winner is Announced

Chef Jose Duarte from Taranta! Team: Miami Dolphins. Burrito Bowl: Roast suckling pig with crispy skin, plantains, cuban rice and something that took us forever to figure out: fried yucca. The skin was tough to bite, but the taste was unbeatable.

A barcode was branded on the tortillas! It doesn’t get much more creative than that. If you scan the barcode with smartphone, and it brought you to a site that had the recipe for his dish. I was beyond impressed.

Celebration ensues!

Thanks to Poe’s Kitchen / Chef Brian Poe for hosting the event, Bryan from Regan Communications, Gilt City for some cool prizes, thanks to all the judges. We had a blast! We need more chef competitions, if only that burger bash wasn’t sold out.

Don’t forget to enter our giveaway – readers have the chance to win a box of cookies and brownies from Geoff & Drews.