Third Coast Cuisine

FLORIDA CHEF TO COMPETE AT GREAT AMERICAN SEAFOOD COOK-OFF IN NEW ORLEANS

Dean James Max, executive chef of 3030 Ocean restaurant in Fort Lauderdale, will represent Florida seafood at the annual Great American Seafood Cook-Off in New Orleans on August 7.  Featuring his recipe using white water clams from Florida's Sebastian Inlet, Chef Dean Max will challenge other national chefs for the title of "King/Queen of American Seafood 2010."

"I chose to feature clams because they are harvested right up the beach from our restaurant," said Chef Dean Max.  "The clams come from water to my table in four hours.  Now that's fresh!"

Chef Dean Max is president of DJM Culinary, Inc., which specializes in restaurant concept development and ongoing management.  He has celebrated the launch of many destination restaurants in the past four years including Latitude 41 and the Brasserie in Cayman and AMP 150 in Cleveland.  He recently took over all the food and beverage at Cheeca Lodge in Islamorada.

A native of Stuart, Florida, Chef Dean Max grew up in the food business.  He holds a bachelor's degree in marketing with a hotel and restaurant minor from Florida State University and also attended the Florence Study Center in Florence, Italy.  Among his many awards and accolades for his culinary expertise are being a James Beard Best Chef Award Nominee in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

Now in its seventh year, the Great American Seafood Cook-Off emphasizes the importance of cooking with domestic seafood and encourages the use of products from sustainable fisheries.  NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service is the event's chief sponsor and uses the cook-off to highlight to American seafood consumers the agency's management of the nation's marine ecosystems.

Chef Justin Timineri of Florida, winner of the 2006 competition, will serve as one of this year's judges.