Culinary Design Challenge 2013

Let the cooking begin!  Food was chopped, sautéed, roasted and sliced as four teams, each led by a renowned chef, competed to win the 2013 Culinary Design Challenge.  The four teams were: Team GE MONOGRAM (Black) led by Chef Martin Yan, of Yan Can Cook; Team WOLF (Red) led by Chef Elise Wiggins of Panzano; Team MEILE (White) led by Chef Michel Wahaltere of AMBLI and Team THERMADOR (Blue) led by Chef Virginia Davis of The Kitchen Mistress. All teams were given the same set of ingredients consisting of items such as ground buffalo, duck breasts, broccolini, stilton and goat cheeses.  Each team worked under the direction of their chef to produce an entree which was then evaluated by the panel of judges. Darrin Alfred, Daniel Asher and Patricia Bainter were the judges for the event.  Rachel Folsom of Luxe served as the emcee and announced the winner Elise Wiggins and Team RED.

The event was held at Kitchens at the Denver, a kitchen design center, full of the latest high end appliances and finishes.

The Culinary Design Challenge was a fundraiser for We Don’t Waste, which is a non-profit which collects leftover food from restaurants, caterers and events. The food is then delivered to shelters and non-profits serving the hungry.  Over a million servings of food are collected and re-distributed each year. Over 300 tons of high quality food are re-directed from the landfill and used to feed those in need in Denver.

For more information about We Don’t Waste, please check out their website at wedontwaste.org