Piehole: Hi, everyone, this is Piehole, and I'm liveblogging from AmericasMart in beautiful downtown Atlanta from the site of the competition that has the whole city talking.

Charlotte B. Teagle/Staff (ENLARGE)

At the ACE challenge, chef Dwight Mosby from Blue Cross Blue Shield in Jacksonville prepares a tropical cobb salad with balsamic raspberry reduction, as judges confer over Mosby's Island Bread Pudding with Butter Rum Glaze. At left is MosbyÕs assistant Allen Nelson.

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Yes, I'm here live at the Not Quite Final Eleven.

The floor is abuzz as the top 11 ARAMARK chefs from throughout the Southeast compete for the coveted ACE — the ARAMARK Culinary Excellence Challenge. The top three chefs at this competition will go on to represent our region this May in Chicago for the coveted prize.

Piehole: I can't believe you'd ask that. ARAMARK is one of the top suppliers of in-house food-service programs to schools, hospitals, businesses and all kinds of other institutions.

Patty Melt: Do u get 2 try the food??

Piehole: Try it? I get to be one of the six judges, my good woman.

Salad Barfly: So each of the chefs makes something? Isn't 11 dishes a lot to eat at one sitting? It doesn't sound healthy.

Piehole: Ha! Eleven dishes is nothing. Each of the competing chefs makes a gorgeously plated appetizer, entree and dessert. I get to sample and pass judgment on 33 dishes.

Patty Melt: OMG!!! That sounds like u r the luckiest!

Sneezeguard: Let me get this straight. Cafeteria cooks?

Piehole: Well, yes, but these guys have earned their chef's whites and wear their toques high. It's a lot of responsibility keeping thousands of daily meals appealing.

Salad Barfly: Is there any artistry at work?

Piehole: To burn. Right now I'm sampling a blackened curried brochette of shrimp and sweet potato croquette speared on a stiletto of sugar cane. It stands straight up.

Patty Melt: Is it 2 die for??

Piehole: It's, um, interesting. In a mushy way.

Sneezeguard: Does it all taste like cafeteria food?

Piehole: Hardly. The chef from Philip Morris made a lamb loin, cooked sous vide, with braised cabbage and white bean puree that tastes like something from the Ritz.

Sneezeguard: So why does he work in the cafeteria at Philip Morris?

Piehole: Free cigs, I guess.

Salad Barfly: That's disgusting. How many dishes have you eaten so far?

Piehole: About 20.

Patty Melt: Anything totally OMG amazing?

Piehole: You know, the chef for Blue Cross Blue Shield made a tropical cobb salad tower with mangoes that was really tasty and healthy. And a banana, chocolate and pistachio tiramisu was great, though the chef forgot to take off its plastic collar.

Sneezeguard: What's been the weirdest dish?

Piehole: Well, the chef at FedEx in Memphis served purple wine-poached scallops with mango sauce. The colors were kind of trippy, but he does run a 24-hour kitchen. Gotta keep those employees awake.

Salad Barfly: How much have you eaten now? Do you feel queasy?

Piehole: Yeah, the baby's starting to kick. But thank the Lord I'm on my last menu: crab-avocado cheesecake, fig-rubbed pork tenderloin and deconstructed trés leches cupcakes from the chef at John Harland Company here in Atlanta.

Sneezeguard: How do you rub something with figs?

Piehole: Please don't. I can't handle the visuals right now. OK, I've finished scoring.

Patty Melt: So exciting!! Who won?

Piehole: No surprises here: Bryan Kelly from Philip Morris took home the gold. He'll lead the Southeast team for the ACE National Challenge this May during the National Restaurant Show in Chicago. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm feeling a little...

Sneezeguard: What are you going to do now, Piehole?

Patty Melt: Where is he??

Salad Barfly: Probably off rubbing figs.