BY SAM VISE
FOR THE OBSERVER
The Depot’s Chef Ben Rosen and Sous Chef Walker Hughes are pictured at the Sweet Grown Alabama Seafood Cook-Off preparing the winning dish, “Alabama Summer,”
AUBURN — Chef Ben Rosen of The Depot is this year’s winner of Sweet Grown Alabama’s Annual Seafood Cook-Off, which took place earlier this month at The Wharf in Gulf Shores.
Chef teams from across the state competed in the cook-off for a chance to win $2,500 and a spot in the Great American Seafood Cook-Off, a national competition which will be hosted in New Orleans later this year.
“It’s a true honor and thrill to have won this year,” Rosen said. “The opportunity to compete alongside such talented chefs and showcase Alabama’s seafood on this platform is an experience I will never forget. I’m incredibly proud to bring this win home and even more excited to carry this passion forward to the Great American Seafood Cook-Off in New Orleans.”
Rosen and his sous chef, Walker Hughes, won the state contest with Rosen’s dish, called “Alabama Summer,” which consists of marinated grilled cobia, corn and Bill-E’s bacon risotto, fried green tomato, lump crab and cobia belly rillette, charred peach and okra relish and Meyer lemon butter.
“My main goal [with the dish] was to make it look like the state of Alabama in summertime,” Rosen said. “This whole dish tastes like summertime for me.”
Born and raised in Alabama, Rosen’s signature dish pays homage to his home state, incorporating many of its themes. The plate itself is blue, representing the Gulf of Mexico. The dark lemon herb butter on the bottom of the plate represents “the luscious black soil that the state of Alabama has for growing products,” Rosen said. The risotto — which he said ties everything together — represents the white, sandy beaches of the shores. The lump crab and cobia belly rillette are made to look like a white cap of a wave crashing onto the beach. The tomato that lies against the cobia is supposed to be the mountains looking down onto the gulf, according to Rosen.
“Best meal I’ve had in Auburn in years! The Alabama Summer dish was [a] culinary masterpiece for any palate,” said one customer review of the dish.
This was not Rosen’s first time at the Alabama Seafood Cook-Off. He represented The Depot in last year’s competition as sous chef.
Rosen’s professional culinary journey began around a decade ago in Florence, Alabama, at Legends Steakhouse, where his initial role as a food runner sparked a passion for cooking and plating.
After moving with his wife to the Auburn area and establishing his own catering business, Rosen joined The Depot in October 2023. Starting as a lead grill cook, he quickly advanced to sauté within three months and was promoted to demi chef de partie in May 2024, shortly after competing in the Alabama Seafood Cook-Off for the first time. He soon after achieved the position of chef de partie, his current role.
“My primary journey from [demi chef de] partie to now has been a very, very fun journey,” Rosen said. “Over the course of the last 12 years, I’ve learned a whole lot.”
He emphasized the importance of learning from other chefs and said he is grateful for the chance to compete, where he can network and learn tips from others.
Rosen said he will be refining Alabama Summer before presenting it on a national scale at the Great American Seafood Cook-Off.
“What I’m most looking forward to is getting to meet other chefs in the competition and seeing their cooking styles, how they do things and being able to bring that back and put some of their methods and styles into the way that I cook,” he said.
The Great American Seafood Cook-Off, established by the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board, is an annual national competition where accomplished chefs prepare unique seafood dishes using ingredients sourced from their home states. The purpose is to promote sustainable, domestic seafood and to offer a platform for chefs to demonstrate their culinary expertise to a broad audience. Judging criteria include presentation, originality, skill, taste and overall dish composition.
For Rosen, the upcoming competition is about more than just winning — it offers the opportunity to showcase the flavors and spirit of Alabama on a national scale.
“I’m very excited,” Rosen said. “I’m really looking forward to representing the state in New Orleans, as well as The Depot. I am slightly nervous because I’ve never competed on anything that large of a stage before.”
