Chef Kayla Pfeiffer is no stranger to cooking on a stage. During her stint on Fifth Avenue South, she recalled weekend events that would close the entire street, and she would take center stage going step by step through countless recipes as event-goers watched. More recently, on an episode of The Food Network’s “Chopped” that aired Jan. 9, Pfeiffer took on an even bigger stage. She impressed the judges with za’atar-crusted alligator hearts, roasted squab and her take on monkey bread, and ultimately took home the victory over her competitors.
At the beginning of the “Chopped” episode, Pfeiffer described her style of cooking as a “fusion of all different types of culinary concepts.” This philosophy accurately describes her current take on things in the kitchen at Bicyclette Cookshop in the Pavilion on Vanderbilt Beach Road, where she is the executive chef and a partner. The restaurant is celebrating its one-year anniversary in November.
Pfeiffer was back in front of a crowd last week, though this time the stage was set up in Bicyclette’s dining room, where she hosted one of Sizzle Dining’s interaction chef demonstrations. For the first time, the team behind Sizzle Dining—a 21-day-long annual initiative when restaurants agree to prepare unique menus and donate $1 to the Blessings in a Backpack charity from each Sizzle meal sold—organized lunchtime chef demonstrations, named Sizzle & Savor. Sizzle Dining founder Guy Clarke and Sizzle & Savor coordinator Ashley Martinez handpicked Pfeiffer as one of four chefs to show hungry diners how to make their meal before they were served it shortly thereafter.
“Guy reached out to me and, without hesitation, I said yes. To support Sizzle Dining itself and Blessings in a Backpack, it’s a no-brainer,” Pfeiffer said. When asked why he picked Pfeiffer and Bicyclette for one of the program’s chef’s demonstrations, Clarke described Pfeiffer as “the new ‘young blood’ that was needed to help drive Naples into the next phase of our foodie journey. Her winning ‘Chopped’ just proved what I felt, so I wanted to help highlight what she is doing, and getting her involved in the Sizzle & Savor event was the perfect way.”
Before Pfeiffer switched on the blender and butane burner in the dining room to start working on the chipotle hollandaise sauce and braised chicken tenderloins that would end up on the lunch plates, we took a peek at what goes through her head to prepare to be front-and-center. She explained, “How I would approach a live cooking demo or cooking on ‘Chopped’ is the same way. I don’t get nervous about it. Obviously, there’s more pressure with ‘Chopped,’ but if you have fun with it, make a few people laugh, obviously educate, you’ve done your job.”
The first of two courses on the menu was her chorizo potatoes, which Pfeiffer admitted were inspired by a fast-food favorite of hers: Taco Bell’s cheesy fiesta potatoes. Normally found on Bicyclette’s snacks menu, the dish is made up of diced potatoes roasted with chopped Spanish chorizo and then topped with a chipotle hollandaise foam.
After adding all the ingredients for the sauce into a blender, including chipotle peppers to give it a slightly spicy bite, Pfeiffer added the sauce to a whipped cream dispenser, pulled the trigger on the dispenser and topped a plate of potatoes, the final touch to make it match every other dish that was being served to the event’s attendees at the same time.
Pfeiffer picked the chicken flautas off her lunch menu to showcase one of her purveyors at Bicyclette Cookshop—Circle C Farms. Flautas are a traditional Mexican dish made with rolled tortillas stuffed with a shredded protein, and then deep-fried to give them their traditional crunchy outside. Located in Hendry County just over an hour’s drive from Bicyclette Cookshop, Circle C Farms has a close relationship with Pfeiffer and Bicyclette, and harvests and processes the chickens to the chef’s liking. Pfeiffer also highlights Circle C Farms’ chicken on the show-stopping dinner entree, the Za’atar Chicken. The half chicken is presented to the diner with the claw still on, on a bed of olive and pita panzanella salad, topped with charred onion cups filled with dipping sauce.
The demonstration for the flautas included Pfeiffer showing off the many veggies that made up the charred tomato salsa, rolling up the tortillas, skewering them and dropping them into a pot of hot oil to fry in front of all the guests. Pfeiffer said the fresh tortillas that are a staple in this dish are locally produced and “still hot when we get them.” When it was finally time to plate, Pfeiffer spooned a layer of charred tomato salsa on the bottom, carefully placed three flautas on it, then topped it all with fresh sliced avocado, a sprinkle of cotija cheese, shredded lettuce and a drizzle of Mexican crema.
Rob and Debbie Steingold of Bonita Springs were in attendance after finding out about the event from the restaurant’s Facebook page just the day before. Rob Steingold described the dishes as “authentic,” a testament to the flavors Pfeiffer and her kitchen staff have worked to put on the plate. Pfeiffer made it clear that this is exactly how these dishes are prepared and executed in the kitchen for diners who order it from the lunch menu on any given day.
Bicyclette Cookshop participated in Sizzle Dining this year by offering both a lunch and dinner menu, while many restaurants participating only offer one or the other. After the demonstration, the chef went back into the kitchen to help the back of the house prepare dishes for the guests who were there for a standard outing. Pfeiffer equated the September Sizzle crowd with what you’d normally find in the winter months. “It’s fun to have the in-season energy.”
