8. April 15, 1996
Another in the series of pitched battles between multiple winners hotel sous-chef John Myers and journeyman restaurant chef Pat Knight. Both men were well-known for great-tasting dishes and artfully conceived displays of showmanship, which naturally put them in head-to-head competition for the coveted SPAMERICA’S™ Cup, a traveling award bestowed to the professional entrant with the highest scores in both taste and showmanship. Myers was famous for his silver chafing dishes, candelabras, ice sculptures, china plates, and haute cuisine dishes such as Scalloped SPAM® and Potatoes au Gratin and Mushrooms SPAMANOV™. Knight’s schtick was to surround himself with female pulchritude and please the crowd with delicious downhome comfort food dishes such as smothered SPAM® with onions and brown gravy and his multiple winner, Chicken-Fried SPAM® with cream gravy.This article appears in March 31 • 2000.