Navy Week Los Angeles 2011 became the background for a unique competition, featuring what some may consider as unlikely competitors – Sailors against aspiring chefs.

A feature on the Navy website shared the cooking contest held as part of Los Angeles Navy Week. Once one gets to know who the contestants are, the competition no longer seems as far-fetched, as aspiring chefs studying at the Los Angeles Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts take on culinary specialists serving on the USS Abraham Lincoln, in a cooking contest held July 26.

Serving as team leader for the Sailors is Culinary Specialist 2nd Class (SW/AW) Jonathan Yates, from Greenville, North Carolina. Yates shared: “I couldn’t have picked a better team for this event… They’re all great chefs, and that’s important because in our world there’s a big difference between cooks and chefs.”

The Lincoln team was chosen via a cook-off, judged by three randomly-selected Sailors. Their shipmates voted Yates, Culinary Specialist 3rd Class Jimmy Nguyen, Culinary Specialist 3rd Class (SW) William Felix, Culinary Specialist Seaman Adrian Flanery and Culinary Specialist Seaman Jeremy Pierre, as winners.

Yates shared further: “This is the biggest cooking challenge I’ve ever been in… We’re cooking against an actual culinary school, and a great school at that. Bring on Bobby Flay. I’m ready for a throw down!”

The winning breakfast spread included spinach and feta cheese omelet, cheese and bacon breakfast potatoes, steak, a peach tart, and pineapple/orange juice.

Michael Shane, Chef Instructor at Le Cordon Bleu, also traces his roots back to the mess halls of ships, having served as Mess Management Specialist 2nd Class – the predecessor of the culinary specialist. He shared: “Our guys cook the same way as these [Navy] guys. There is definitely a chain of command in the kitchen; it’s really the same job.”

The competition was aired live on Good Day L.A., from the ship’s galley.