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
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- Brad Morris, left, and Martin Yan show off their knives
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- Ed Hurley and Elise Wiggins
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- Martin Yan and Rollie Jordan
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- Carol Moore and Michel Wahaltere
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- Jesse Peterson, left, and John Christen
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- The culinary teams listen to their directions
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- Rachelle Folsom gives directions
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- Team members hear more direction
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- The last moments before the cooking begins
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- Team BLUE led by Chef Virginia Davis plan their dish
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- Team RED led by Chef Elise Wiggins examine the ingredient list
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- Chef Martin Yan with Chef Jackson Lamb
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- Team WHITE led by Chef Michel Waheltere unpack their ingredients
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- Team BLACK Cress Carter, left, Rollie Jordan, Brad Morris and Martin Yan
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- Team RED John Atencio, left, Chef Elise Wiggins, Miranda Cullen and Ed Hurley
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- The winning Team RED is announced
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- The chefs pose for the cameras
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- Chef Martin Yan speaks to the crowd
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- The crowd mingles through the design center
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- Judges Darrin Alfred, left, and Patricia Bainter and Daniel Asher taste team White’s food
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- Team BLUE plates
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- Team BLUE, Heidi Mendoza, left, and John Mink, Dave Hyde and Chef Virginia Davis
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- Scott Sterrett, left, and Brad Morris, Cindy Hellgren, Chef Martin Yan, Randall Fong
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- Team BLACK plate
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- Team RED plate
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- Chef Michel Wahaltere plates his dishes
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- Robyn and Steve Schumacher
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- The back of house catering area
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- Plates ready to go
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- Appetizer area
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- Christine Pfluger, left, and Kevin Preblud, Sue Evans, Leigh Sinclair
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- Cindy Hellgren, left, Laurin Thomas
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- Fritz Hoff, left, Laurin Thomas and Doug Imhoff
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- Plated food
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- Beautiful food
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- Barry Lowenthal, left, Laurin Thomas and Gary Douglas
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- Gina, left and Anna Khrestsov
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- Randy Spurlock, left, and Mark Schmidt
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- Chef Michel checks the oven
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- Randall Fong checks the herbs
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- Sherida Hyde, left, with Ryan and Michelle Tanner
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- Deborah and David Heitman
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- Team WHITE, Bryan Aboud, left, Carol Moore, Ariel Gelman and Chef Michel Wahaltere
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- Checking on the food
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- Plating dishes
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- Checking stock
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- Chopping with a cleaver
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- Judges Darrin Alfred, left, PatriciaBainter and Daniel Asher
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- Chef Elise Wiggins, left, and Miranda Cullen
