The Sacramento Bee, 11/20/2007

Bird's the word at chefs' meet

When Jamie Bunnell makes a turkey, he doesn't mess around. The proprietor of Jamie's Bar & Grill roasts his birds with an herb butter under the skin, cooks the stuffing inside, thankyouverymuch, and cuts each slice like a butcher at a going-out-of-business sale.

So yes, it's fantastic.

So fantastic, in fact, that it won him first prize in a turkey cook-off sponsored by Sacramento City Councilman Rob Fong.

Fong started the cook-off, the first of what he hopes will become an annual tradition, as a way for local chefs to show off their skills and as a benefit for Loaves & Fishes, where the event was held.

With restaurants such as Tower Cafe, Cafe Bernardo, Hanger 17 and Plaza Hof Brau participating, birds donated by developer Paul Petrovich and hungry, if unqualified, judges like myself, the event yielded eight full turkey dinners for the shelter. Eventually, Fong aims to provide all 200 birds for its annual Thanksgiving feast.

Bunnell took home the prize by earning a full five points from each of the judges. It was a big win, but not a surprising one, considering he's made three turkeys a day for the past 22 years.

That's about 24,000 turkeys. Guess practice really does make perfect.

—Lisa Heyamoto, Bee Staff Writer