JUDGES ANNOUNCED FOR THIS YEAR’S DATE CHEF COMPETITION
Sunday,
April 27 at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino’s
Special Events Center
INDIO,
CA.
– (February 25, 2008) This year’s lineup
of nine judges for the California Date
Chef’s Competition includes food industry
professionals, chefs, food writers and
television and radio broadcasters.
The eighth annual competition takes
place Sunday, April 27 in the Special Events
Center at Fantasy Springs
Resort Casino.
The event is open to the public from
2 – 4:30 p.m.
and tickets are $35 per person, benefiting
culinary scholarships through the California
Women for Agriculture.
Advance tickets are available at Shields Date
Garden, corner of Jefferson and Highway
111 in
Indio, through
reservations by calling (760) 347-4510, or
at the door the day of the event.
Judges include
Byron
Vaughan, associate publisher for
Santé,
the Magazine for Restaurant Professionals;
Donna Skidmore, Director
of Dole Food Company’s Consumer Services,
Chef
Christopher Heath Stone, chef-instructor for Johnson & Wales
culinary institute,
Denver,
Colo.;
Executive Chef
Bruce
Jacobs, of Bristol Farms.
Also on the judging panel are
Henry Fenwick,
food writer for The Desert Sun;
Jackie Olden,
author, chef and host of
Cooking with Jackie on KNWZ Radio;
Donna
Curran, food editor for
Palm
Springs Life Magazine;
Maurice Bratt, host of KGAM radio’s
Dishing with Maurice; and
Joni
Ravenna, host of
Hello
Paradise on KVCR Channel 9 television.
Three judges in each category will
determine First Place Appetizer, Entree and
Dessert categories, and the top scoring in
all categories wins Best of Show.
People’s Choice is determined by guests’
votes cast during the Gala Awards Ceremony.
“The professional blind judging takes
place from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. when the nine-member panel of chefs, food writers
and experts will taste and evaluate the
finalists’ entries, judging for best use of
dates, originality, flavor, texture and
overall presentation for 100 possible
points,” said Chef Spokesman
Freddy Rieger, executive
chef at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino.
The eighth annual competition is open
only to professional chefs currently
employed by or owners of a restaurant,
catering service, or hotel.
Fifteen finalists will be selected to
present their entry for judging. Winners take
away more than $5,000 in award money,
trophies and the opportunity for their
restaurant to show off the award winning
recipe for a month at their establishment.
During the Gala Awards Reception,
guests are invited to sample all the
entries, visit with the chefs, talk with
Date Industry leaders, and vote for their
favorite to win the People’s Choice Award.
The event is sponsored by the
California Date Administrative Committee and
Fantasy Springs Resort Casino.
Sponsorship opportunities are
available to support the benefit event.
The competition celebrates the partnership
between the Coachella Valley’s
tourism and agriculture industries.
For further information, call the
CDAC
office at (760) 347-4510 or toll free
800-223-8748.
or visit online at
www.DatesAreGreat.com
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