The Villager Newspaper Online Your Community News – Cleveland's Westshore
Your chance to judge some of the best chefs in town is right around the corner as St. John Medical Center presents the 3rd annual “Top Chef” competition at Quicken Loans Arena September 10.
Admit it! You’ve watched Bravo’s acclaimed Top Chef competition in the past and wished you could be part of this hotly contested show of culinary skill and creativity.
This is your opportunity as four brave chefs from leading Cleveland restaurants meet head on in battle!
In a test of their versatility and inventiveness, Chefs Michael Nowak of Bar Cento, Rob Records of Johnny’s, Sarah Sherapita of Luxe and Jonathan Guest of Washington Place Bistro will be asked to prepare an appetizer and entrée for competition.
Judging will be led by celebrity Ted Allen, an Emmy award-winning host of Food Network favorites like Chopped and Food Detectives. The expert panel will also include Joe Crea, Food and Restaurants editor at The Plain Dealer, and Chef Regan Reik of Pier W, last year’s Top Chef winner. They will determine the coveted Top Chef champ for 2011.
More than a 1,000 guests are expected to join these three exemplary judges in naming the second of the two auspicious titles on the line – The People’s Choice Award. Guests will vote on the winner in this all-important grassroots category.
What does victory at Top Chef mean to the winners? “To be selected from among the best chefs in the area is an honor that just doesn’t come every day. Everyone who competes brings their ‘A’ game, so to win here just means so much,” said Reik after he and his Pier W staff sliced through the competition last summer. His return this year as part of the professional judging team adds to the luster.
“Guests will not only have a great time and experience a totally unique view of these leading chefs at work, they will be supporting a great cause as proceeds benefit St. John Medical Center Women’s and Children’s Services, and Community Outreach. These are very important programs that touch the lives of so many people,” said Kathy Bacha, co-chair of the event with SJMC Marketing and Public Relations Director Patrick Garmone. “It’s not only a great time, but a wonderful and unique fund-raising initiative.”
St. John Medical Center has moved the competition to a much larger venue this year – Quicken Loans arena. “This gives people from all over the area a convenient locale at a great downtown venue where they can experience celebrities like Ted Allen and our invited chefs in a world-class arena,” added Bacha. “Because of the exciting renovations taking place at St. John Medical Center, we happily moved Top Chef to Quicken Loans Arena for this year. It has raised the scope of the event, and they have been great to work with. So have the chefs. They are so ready to compete!”
This is your chance to join Ted Allen and friends for a one-of-a-kind dining experience and help select a winner! Tickets, which are $150 per person, can be purchased at www.StJohnMedicalCenter.net.
check out our 2010 Top Chef gallery here!
