Each year in Temecula Wine Country there is a A Chef competition and fundraiser benefiting the Oak Grove Culinary Arts Vocational Program, which supports at-risk and special needs youth. The Non-Profit Organization points out that Through culinary arts training, Culinary Creations changes lives one dessert at a time. It’s amazing how successful this Organization is in benefiting the children in our local Community.
This event is not just a great food tasting event, but an intense chef vs chef showcase of their best signature dishes. This year was the 18th Annual Event and was held at The Peltzer Winery which is the perfect location to host this event! Out of all the events I have attended this may have been the Best So-Cal Chef’s Open yet! All the dishes were so good, it was difficult to decide the best of the best!
The Chefs were in two Competitions in today’s Event
Judge’s Choice- Pinnacle Award – This year’s judges; Henry DiCarlo from KTLA Channel 5, Dan Henderson, Owner of Hendo’s Barrel House, Wing Lam, Co-founder of Wahoo’s Fish Tacos, Chef Hany Ali from Europa Village, Chef Larry Monaco from Heritage Palms Golf and Country Club. The event was also judged by Chef Mario Amaral from Savage Chef. Savage Chef was the winner for the last 3 years so Chef Mario declined to cook this year and was asked to be a judge instead. Watch out…he will be back next year and attempt to take back his crown!
The Judges for the Competition for the Pinnacle Award performed a blind tasting and voted on the top 3 dishes.
winner of The Judge’s Choice – Pinnacle Award
People’s Choice
The attending visitors voted on the top 3 dishes to come up with the People’s Choice awards.
Not being in the Competition this year did not stop Savage Chef from participating in this year’s event. Chef Dylan Soros and Mixologist Nikki Soros produced some delicious food and drinks to continue their support to Oak Grove and the Chef Open event.
Savage Chef
Check out the info for all the Chef’s dishes:
Truffle Pig – Placed 1st in the Judge’s Pinnacle Award and 2nd in the People’s Choice
Corbeaux Wine and Tea House – Place 2nd in the Judge’s Pinnacle Award
Ghost Kitchen Crew – Placed 1st in the People’s Choice
Cork Fire Kitchen – Place 3rd in both the Judges Pinnacle Award and the People’s Choice
Talia Kitchen
Oak Grove Center-Culinary Creations
Jillian Fae-Chef Service
Eat 310
The Brunch House
Trattoria Toscana
I hope you enjoyed the event as much as I did. If you didn’t have a chance to attend, hopefully next year you can make it. You won’t be disappointed! I appreciate Peltzer Winery providing the perfect location for the event and all the other sponsors and volunteers for their contributions to the Day’s success. As always, thanks for Spending Time in My Kitchen! Can’t wait until next year!
