Local Chef Adam Greenberg (Fortina) Competes on "Chopped"

Jeff "jfood" Schlesinger

Chef Adam Greenberg of Fortina will be the latest local chef to appear on The Food Network’s “Chopped” on February 24th at 1000PM. The chefs are each given a ”mystery basket” and are required to create an appetizer, an entrée and a dessert re-purposing each of these ingredients. Three world class chefs then critique each chef’s creation down to the smallest details. Lose the round and you are “chopped,” the others move to the next round. Win all three rounds and you are the Chopped Champ. Chef Adam was kind enough to share a few thoughts on the competition and his culinary future with CTbites.

[INGREDIENT SPOILER ALERT IN THIS PARAGRAPH - GOT TO NEXT PARAGRAPH TO AVOID] The ingredients in Chopped’s “mystery basket” usually include exotic fruits and vegetables, unusual proteins and other choice ingredients like gummy bears. With his episode titled "Late Night Food Brawl” Chef Greenberg was completely unaware of what to expect. When he opened his basket for the appetizer round he could only stare, it contained already prepared Canadian poutine, cold French fries with congealed meat sauce and cheese curds, plus sausage. “You really only get about 1 minute, so your mind moves fast. I tend to think pretty quickly on my feet, but I tried to allow experience and knowledge to overcome any anxieties about the moment.”  In rounds two and three, the mystery baskets contained tiny burgers for the entrée round and burritos for dessert. “It's completely authentic, so what you've seen on TV, that's real.“

And as the show progressed his greatest fear that “equipment not working properly, which would cause something to go awry…” could come into play. Did he make the right? Will he have enough time? All of these thoughts were considered. Did Chef Adam rise to the challenge? “I definitely did, and you will get to see how I changed directions on a couple things. That's why I don't bake much, I love to adapt a dish, or in this case, improvise a bit. It's like improv acting, just be yourself and do what you know best.”

The contestants are under strict secrecy rules until the competition airs, so I guess we will all have to wait until next week to see how Chef Adam did.

With Chopped behind him, Chef Adam now focusses on his latest culinary adventure. Last October he joined the team at Fortina and was reunited with three Barcelona alumnae Christian Petroni, John Nealon and Jodi Bernhard, plus Rob Krauss and the amazing Luigi Bianco. “Christian and I have a lot of the same philosophies when it comes to food. We love…great ingredient based food…done with love, and with the idea that comfort food tells stories, and creates memories with friends and family at the table.” They are busy developing the plans for the Stamford location. “We love to collaborate....Christian, John, and Rob have given us such awesome kitchens to work in…and a virtual blank canvas to work with. It's a real team effort…and the good thing is, we have an awesome team.”

Firmly focused on the future and Fortina Stamford we are expecting good things from Chef Adam. “Stamford is going to be very cool, with some new ideas being thrown in, with the same comfort both Fortinas have already established. Looking forward to the future…”