OCEANPORT, NJ - The Grand Summit Hotel’s Hunt Club Steak & Seafood Grill, under the leadership of Executive Chef Charles Burke, claimed the award for the best "other" item at this weekend’s Shore Chef Crab Cake Cook-Off at Monmouth Park in Oceanport. Their spicy shrimp with chipotle peppers, cilantro and lemon butter won the honor.
The Grand Summit’s Hunt Club won a crab cake award last year, but this year’s honors were bestowed upon Mud City Crab Cake Co. of Forked River, which won the people’s choice award for their jumbo lump crab cake, while Red of Red Bank was the choice of a panel of judges who deemed their jumbo lump crab cake superior.
Burke wasn’t about to rest on last year’s laurels and spent several months tinkering with a new recipe that resulted in the Asian-infused lump crab cake, served with Napa Cabbage Slaw and Chili Ginger Dipping Sauce, that he offered to race goers at Monmouth Park. Devising the new recipe was "all trial and error," as Burke put it. "We had tastings for all the Hotel employees and tweaked it until everyone agreed."
"I was kind of wary as to whether we’d win again [in the crab cake category]," Burke said after the results were announced on Sunday afternoon. Yet, he was in no mood to get melancholy over settling for just one honor. "It’s a privilege for our spicy shrimp to win two years in a row," Burke said. He was especially generous in providing credit for the achievement to the crew that assisted him in serving more than 1,000 portions during the two days of the Cook-Off. "All these people...without them, I’m nothing."
A crew of about 10 people assisted Burke, including his wife Regina, Grand Summit Assistant General Manager Mike Marino, Sous Chef Mark Tomossone, Director of Catering Jimmy Thornton, and Brenda Hartman, the Hotel’s Director of Purchasing and Executive Steward. "She made all of this happen," Burke said of Hartman’s work in arranging for the delivery of food and equipment to Monmouth County. He also credited Mark Gianguilio, the Hotel’s General Manager, as being instrumental in the team’s effort.
Although the new Asian-infused crab cake may not be touted as an award winner, Hunt Club diners will be able to render their own verdicts when it replaces last year’s champ, the pan fried lump crab and vermicelli cake with tomato relish and roasted garlic aioli that is now on the menu. Burke said that this will happen as soon as management gives the word.
Burke considers his crab cakes a signature item on the Hunt Club menu. He cites the fresh lump crab meat that he uses as a key element in his product’s superiority. He also said that he does not use a lot of filler and avoids bread crumbs.
Burke and the rest of the Grand Summit team look forward to returning for next year’s Cook-Off, when they will once again take on a bevy of Jersey Shore restaurants on their own turf. "We’re all winners and we’ll be back," said Burke, who is now in his 11th year at the helm of the Grand Summit’s Hunt Club.