On Feb. 1, the Memphis Business Journal launched an online bracket competition designed to lead to readers’ selection of the city’s best chef.

Turns out that the “Best Chef in Memphis” competition generated as much bad public relations as a boll weevil in a micro-greens and roasted beet salad.

On the afternoon of Feb. 2, the newspaper canceled the contest, as many of the 32 chefs the publication had chosen declined to be treated like basketball teams competing for the NCAA finals. A group letter that asserted the solidarity rather than the competitiveness of the local restaurant community, signed by 28 chefs and owners, was sent to the MBJ Wednesday afternoon.

“We’re baffled,” said MBJ managing editor Terry Hollahan. “I mean, we’re shocked. We’re trying to make our Web presence more active, and we saw this as a good way to help promote the restaurant community. We have great chefs and great restaurants in Memphis. I can’t speak to what happened or what the attitude was, but the complaints were so onerous that we just bagged it.”

Javier Lopez, executive chef at Folk’s Folly Prime Steak House, said, “It came down to the issue that nobody wanted to be compared to anybody. That’s like apples and oranges. I mean if it’s just a popularity contest, how can you say who is best? What does that mean?”

The letter sent to MBJ was a collaborative effort, said Deni Reilly, owner, with husband and chef Patrick Reilly, of The Majestic Grille.

“Everyone had input into what was in the letter,” she said. “It expressed everyone’s feelings,” with emphasis on the sense that the local restaurant industry can be competitive in business but refuses to be competitive personally.

“We work really hard to build a community,” said Ryan Trimm, chef and co-owner of Sweet Grass and Next Door. “We’re finally making a name for ourselves in this city as a dining destination. What I didn’t like about the format of the competition was that one person would win and all the others would be losers. It pits people against friends.”

Trimm was one of several chefs and restaurant owners who received email messages about the competition, didn’t respond to the message and yet ended up listed in the bracket format.

“Whoever was organizing the competition should have sent someone to the restaurant,” Trimm said, “or at least followed up with a phone call. Something more personal would have been appropriate.”

The primary problem, said Reilly, was that the launch notifications came so late – Tuesday evening before the Wednesday when the contest would begin – that there was no opportunity for response. Those messages were sent during dinner service, when office personnel had gone home and kitchen and front-of-house staff were busy.

“It seemed to be a callous approach to an industry that the Business Journal covers,” Reilly said. “We did receive a phone call earlier, from an editorial intern, but it was during lunchtime, so Patrick wasn’t available.”

Hollahan confirmed that an editorial intern organized the tournament, working with the MBJ’s Web editor.

One sore point was that a few restaurateurs received calls suggesting that the competitors criticize each other or “smack talk” on their Facebook pages.

“I got one of those calls,” said Jason Severs, chef at Bari Ristorante e Enoteca and owner, with his wife, Rebecca, of Bari and Three Angels Diner. “It was a message asking if I would be a little snarky and get some dirt on somebody, but that wasn’t something I wanted to be involved with. I didn’t return the phone call. I didn’t want to dignify it with a response. I mean, we see everybody all the time. Sure, I want my restaurant to be the best, but not at the expense of the community we’ve built.”

“It wasn’t our intention,” said Hollahan, “to have the chefs ‘smack talk’ each other. We thought there could be some friendly competition, but, I don’t know, we were trying to do the right thing. There was nothing underhanded.”

Perhaps Felicia Willett, executive chef and owner of Felicia Suzanne’s, summed up the situation best.

“The Business Journal wasn’t trying to do any harm,” she said. “I think this was all about miscommunication. They were trying to do a good thing, and it’s funny that it got taken so seriously. My main concern was that I didn’t give my permission to be in the competition, yet it was so hard to get my name taken off the bracket.”