Скачать или смотреть 2010 Rockfish Cook-Off

Rockfish are at the center of angler attention these days, as two of the three biggest striper tournaments of the year currently are taking place.

The inaugural Million Dollar Rockfish Challenge concludes today out of Marina Shores inside Lynnhaven Inlet. The Mid-Atlantic Rockfish Shootout starts this week out of Rudee Inlet.

With all this fish being caught, it was only fitting that somebody showed anglers what to do with it.

As part of the Challenge, 22 chefs - amateur and professional - did just that Thursday as they battled it out in the Million Dollar Rockfish Cook-Off.

As the teams prepared their dishes for the judges, several local bands rocked the crowd of nearly 1,000 spectators - who got to sample the eats after the competition.

Winners and runner-ups were chosen by judges Steve Sadowski of the Culinary Institute of Virginia, local food critic Patrick Evans-Hylton, and Virginian-Pilot food writer Lorraine Eaton.

Still Worldly Eclectic Tapas in Portsmouth was chosen as the professional winner - capturing $4,000 and edging Primo 116 of Suffolk, which was awarded $3,000.

When their victory was announced, executive chef Mike Farrell looked at assistant Jason Winters, who returned the glance in disbelief.

"We were like... who is that," Farrell said. "We couldn't believe it."