Competitions on the Tradeshow floor
A variety of culinary and design competitions kept the Tradeshow floor vibrant throughout the last two days of the show. Here’s a look:
DICED Culinary Competition
Six teams of two, 15 minutes to plan, 30 minutes to cook, and a mystery box of ingredients that must be used to create a hot appetizer that pleases four discerning judges. What else could it be but DICED?
Inside the Mystery Box: Barramundi from Australis Aquaculture, Pure Lemon Extract from Neilsen-Massey, Honey Citrus Pepper Shelf Stable Sauce from Minor’s, Tiny Veggies Crudité Mix from Fresh Origins, dandelion greens, cauliflower, popcorn, and miso paste. Behind each chef team was a pantry of staples. What would happen next?
Judges included Chef Peter Sproul, Utah Valley University; Author, food writer, chef, and TV personality Simon Majumdar; Chef Brian Dragos, Minor’s; and Retro Rad chef, culinary educator, and Food Network star Emily Ellyn. Here, judge Simon Majumdar offers a critique of one of the plates.
A close up of the winning dish
The winning team of Julio Castillo and Remberto Guerrero from the Mirage Hotel (shown here) and Casino walked away with a check for $3000.
Thank you to the sponsors of the DICED competition
Australis Aquaculture, Cambro, Fresh Origins, Lowe Refrigeration, Mercer Culinary, Minor’s, Neilsen-Massey Vanillas, VitaCraft Corp., and Waring.
Rapid Recipe
Similar to DICED, Rapid Recipe featured three rounds of challenges: Appetizers, Entrees, and Desserts. Each chef was given a mystery box of ingredients and a set of staples at their disposal. Each also had to write their recipe for the judges to assess. Let the games begin!
Mystery box ingredients varied between each challenge, but included products from Australis Aquaculture, Neilsen-Massey, Minor’s, and Fresh Origins. Some real curve balls were thrown in, too. Marinated tofu chunks, anyone? The winning chef from each round received $600.
The staff of Footers Catering, Denver, CO pose with Appetizer Round 1 winner, sous chef Heather Carr and Entrée Round 2 winner food architect Jacob Sutton
Entrée Round 2 winner Jacob Sutton plates up his entrée for the judges
Dessert Round 3 winner Ashley Baughman, CPC, executive pastry chef, Catering by Sodexo
Melissa Tibben, Heidi Brice, and Linkie Marais, judges; Ken Barrett, emcee, during Round 1 of Rapid Recipe
Thank you to the sponsors of the Rapid Recipe competition
Australis Aquaculture, Cambro, Fresh Origins, Lowe Refrigeration, Mercer Culinary, Minor’s, Neilsen-Massey Vanillas, VitaCraft Corp., and Waring.
Cocktail challenge
Four bartenders from the Nevada branch of the United States Bartender Guild faced off on an elimination-style competition featuring specific products on the first two rounds (Fat Tire beer, Michelada Love mixer, and Zyr Russian Vodka), culminating in a head-to-head shake off in which bartenders could choose their best spirits to woo the judges and win a $500 check.
SeongHa Lee of the Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas, was crowned the winner of the competition and went home with a check for $500. Here, he mixes his first round cocktail.
In the second round of the competition, bartenders were instructed to use either Michelada Love mixer or Fat Tire Beer in their cocktails
The winning cocktail, named Welcome to Las Vegas, had a Zyr Vodka base, a Fat Tire rinse, two kinds of vermouth, St. Germain liqueur, Scrappy’s Orange Bitters, demerara syrup, and fresh lime juice. It was crowned with a blueberry nestled inside a raspberry with a microgreen garnish.
DesignSPARK LIVE!
Two design masterminds, David Caruso and Bob Russo, went design-wild in an action-packed live display of “design-on-the-fly” to help spur ideas for attendees to take back for use in their own event execution, by styling an event space from scratch. Sponsored by AFR, the teams took to the stage and a blur of color and action ensued, to great finish!
The two competitors share a friendly embrace
Bob Russo gets down to business during the competition
David Everett, eventual victor!
Out of the Box Lunch competition
Anchor Packaging presented the Out of the Box Lunch Contest LIVE!—showcasing unique presentations for lunch delivery. Three contestants sliced, diced, and packaged their best toteable design, with the winner taking a check for $1000!
Judges and chefs Peter Sproul and Emily Ellyn assessed the knife skills of an Out of the Box Lunch competitor
Chef Ro Solano won the competition with this beautiful presentation
