Mary Stanley and The Turtle Restaurant have been chosen as one of the top entries for Chefs Under Fire 2010 Austin-San Antonio Regional Competition.

The competition starts out with an online poll where votes are cast for the public’s favorite chefs.  The poll opened on Wednesday and will last through August 30 at 11:59pm.  Click here to give Mary and the Turtle your support each day until the deadline.

The top four contestants then have a live competition against other in the finals where he or she could be named Chef Under Fire 2010 by Celebrity Chefs and Iron Chef America contenders.

Chef David Bull, Chef Tyson Cole, and Chef Kent Rathbun.  The Austin-San Antonio Regional Finals will be held Monday, September 27, 2010 at the Texas Beef Council.

Chef Stanley will be up against such names as:

• Chef Victoria Ann, of Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Austin, Student
• Erica Beneke, of MAX’s Wine Dive Austin, Sous Chef
• Chef Camero, of Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Austin, Student
• Chef Trysh Gonzales, of Art Institute of Austin, Student
• Chef Jason Hardacker, of Silver Whisk Cooking School, Kitchen Manager
• Chef Tanner Harris, of Thai Fresh, Chef
• Chef Tonni, of Hinospices, Executive Chef/Proprietor
• Chef Chad Holt, of Wandering Chef, Owner/Chef
• Chef Deegan McClung, of Jeffrey’s Restaurant, Executive Chef
• Chef Renee Morgan, of Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Austin, Student
• Chef Steve, of Southern’s Fine Dining, Owner
• Chef Byron, of TRIO at Four Seasons Hotel, Cook 1

“As you can see from the list of chefs we are up against some large and extremely popular restaurants in Austin,” stated Stanley.  “ We need every vote we can get so this little David can take on an Austin Goliath.”

On the line is a 7-night stay for up to 4 guests in a Grand Suite at The Grand Mayan Los Cabos exclusive luxury resort, December 10-17, 2010.

Chefs Under Fire is national competition, open to professional chefs in the United States (all 50 States and the District of Columbia).  Regional finalists will be asked to prepare 4 identical plated dishes onsite under a time restriction for the judges.  Dishes will be judged on taste (50%), presentation (25%), and originality (25%).   Regional finalists will be annuonced September 2, 2010.  One contestant will be selected as a Finalist to move on to the CUF Final Competition that will be held at the AT&T Executive Education & Conference Center in Austin, TX on October 25, 2010.

These CUF Finalists will then be asked to prepare a pre-developed 4 serving dish (entrée and side dish) to be judged by a Celebrity Chef Judging Panel.  The dish must use all specified secret ingredients which will be announced no later than 14 days prior to the competition date (October 25, 2010).  Finalists’ dishes will be judged on taste (50%), presentation (25%), and originality (25%).  An overall winner, (chosen by the Judges Panel) and a Fan Favorite (chosen by voting via text and online public polling) will be named at the Final event.