Alfredo's at the Inn Chef in Benefit Competition

Alfredo's at the Inn chef/manager Anthony Quagliata will be back at Real Men Cook XXIII on Friday to defend his title from last year.

The annual benefit for Women's Alliance for Recovery Services, Inc., will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Friday at the Doubletree Hotel, 1111 Lakeside Ave., Cleveland. Tickets are $15 at the door.

The event features about 100 chefs competing in three categories – Best Future Chef (for amateurs), Best Chef in the Media and Best Career Chef. Quagliata said this will be his fifth time participating.

"I definitely think it's a good cause. That's why I go," he said. "It's a bonus that I won."

Last year he defeated about 20 other professionals for the title of Best Career Chef. His winning entry was pretzel-crusted popcorn chicken with a dijon/horseradish sauce for dipping.

"We have a special that's pretzel-crusted chicken and it's popular. I condensed it and made it bite-sized," Quagliata said.

This year, he's bringing risotto arancini. "They're basically rice balls," he said. "A lot of Italian people love them and even people who aren't Italian love them."

Quagliata said he's starting to have regular followers at Real Men Cook.

"They come by every year looking for my dish," he said.

For Real Men Cook, chefs bring their dishes already cooked. But Quagliata's also been in competitions where chefs are given ingredients and have to whip something up on the spot.

"I love cooking on the fly," he said. "I'm used to it. When I'm cooking for banquets, I'm making a ton of food at once."

In 2009, Alfredo's at the Inn won the Taste of Hillcrest at Landerhaven. About 30 area restaurants were in the competition.

Quagliata said such events are part of letting people know about the business, which is inside the Holiday Inn on Beta Drive in Mayfield Village.

"Not everybody knows about it," he said. "We do get a very good draw from our neighborhood. They contribute a lot to our business."