Anyone who arrived at the Hot Rocks Griller Challenge thinking the only thing to eat would be an assortment of tiny hamburger patties was in for a big surprise.
A very tasty one, at that.
Sure, sliders were the dish du jour. But ordinary ground beef was not a featured ingredient for the 16 chefs entered in what was described as a “fiery competition” to determine whose skill at the grill pleased the greatest number of palates.
The 950 people who paid a minimum $100 to attend this benefit for the enjoyed such great stuff as char siu bao buns created by Matt Selby and Brandon Biederman from and ; the Bar-B-Que Bacon BLT sliders by Goose Sorensen of ; and ropa vieja sliders that were the brainchild of Jamey Fader ( and the Big F Restaurant Group).
And those yummy selections weren’t even the winners.
First prize went to Tyler Wiard and Aniedra Nichols of for Aniedra’s Reuben, a riff on the delicatessen favorite that was served with a side of sweet potato tater tots with habanero ketchup for dipping.
Troy Guard ( and TAG Raw Bar) took second place with his Grilled Hawaii Five-O ono slider that was served with a refreshing watermelon-mango salad, while third place went to Simon Purvis, the chef at in the Four Seasons Denver. He used Kobe beef for his sliders, topping them with caramelized jalapeño, red onions, shaved fresh horseradish and truffle aioli.
The winners were determined by the number of poker chips placed in bowls set out at each chef’s station. Guests received one chip at check-in but could purchase as many additional ones as they pleased.
Michael Bortz of provided the crowd-pleasing desserts. “I made 2,000 pieces, and only crumbs remain,” he said at the evening’s halfway point.
Pro Football Hall of Famer John Elway and Michael Pollak, president of , chaired the event, which was held outdoors in the space surrounding Elway’s Cherry Creek steak house.
Familiar faces in the crowd included Denver Health chief Patricia Gabow; recent Houston transplant Dave Lehman of DJ Resources; King Soopers president Russ Dispense; Al Tropmann, president of PCL Construction Services; Realtors Judy Fahrenkrog, Rollie Jordan and Darrell Hamilton; Karen Moore, owner of Djuna; Dan Dexter, a private mortgage banker with Wells Fargo; Dr. Dean Prina; Caz Matthews; Charlie Walling of Robinson Dairy; Neiman Marcus spokeswoman Nancy Sagar; Yvonne McCallum; Kathy Finley; stylist Sylvia Atencio; and attorney Hubert Farbes, president of the Denver Health and Hospital Authority board.
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com; also, blogs.denverpost.com/style and @GetItWrite on Twitter
