A Champion Chef First - 16 Players Compete in 'Chez Lanes Ave'

"I still can't believe how much we laughed that night.  Our Champion Chef teams had us in stitches and the sledging was full on.  Even the lead-up was exciting with phones running hot after the announcement of the secret ingredient "sausage". Team members bumped into other secret team meetings that morning in cafes, kids dance classes and the supermarket with sabotage attempts to obtain that competitive edge.  The teams were split by sex, age and height so we had the "Old Farts", "Immatures", "Tall Tarts" and "Short Arses".  Everyone was looking to impress the judges and dressed up accordingly – the "Immatures" played to the crowd as they dressed as superheroes of the young (Spiderman, Austen Powers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle and Corey).  After a game of "rock, paper, scissors" to determine cooking order the kitchen was a frenzy of chopping and teamwork.  Creativity kicked in with pork sausages deconstructed and presented Thai style, spicy chorizo with a salsa salad, pan seared sausage in a tasting plate and even handmade sausages (I couldnt believe the "old farts" made fresh salmon sausage - even the butcher couldnt believe they wanted to just buy sausage skins!).  All teams desperately worked to the ticking of the clock. No wonder the rest of us were in stitches watching the "Old Farts" team who, cooking last, just threw the time rule out the window – and demonstrated the art of slow motion slicing in between sips of red wine.  Not a single team member was even present in the kitchen when the 30 minute buzzer rang!  I just lost it when that happened and tears were streaming down my face.  By the end of the night when the scores were announced in a ridiculously long round by round (just get on with it!) speech I didn't even hear who won but it didn't matter as I had just had a ridiculously hilarious night.  It was time for another glass of red – and cheers to Champion Chef! "

Janine, Quantong