One of the toughest jobs in town belonged to the judges who were asked to pick just two winners at the .
Twelve chefs were competing in this fundraiser for , and each of them had prepared a knockout dish.
After much deliberating — and going back for seconds — the panel awarded the prize for Best Savory Dish to Jeremy Kittelson, executive chef at and , for his sweet corn caramelle pasta that was served with a bison meatball, kale pesto and heirloom tomato salsa. The nod for Best Pastry went to Joy Williams of , who prepared a blackberry-lemongrass tart garnished with yuzu–compressed Palisade peaches and Chinese vinegar jelly.
The 300 who attended the event held earlier this month at Mile High Station also could cast votes. A halibut dish by executive chef Cristino Griego and his team from won Crowd Favorite/Savory, while the carrot-cake cheesecake by Noah French, executive chef at , was the Crowd Favorite/Pastry.
“All the chefs deserved to win. The food was that good,” declared Anne Harris, the chapter’s executive director.
Those holding VIP-level tickets arrived early to enjoy a reception sponsored by . The evening also had a cooking demonstration by one of the 2013 Chef’s Challenge winners, Thach Tran of ChoLon; wine pairings selected by sommelier Luke Recine from the Glendale location of ; specialty cocktails; and a silent auction.
9News anchor Cheryl Preheim was master of ceremonies.
A special treat was watching pastry chef Nina Acosta from restaurant in the Hyatt Regency Convention Center hand-pull spun sugar to top the cotton-candy mousse that was her entry for the competition.
Mike and Kathleen Beatty were among the presenting sponsors of the Chef’s Challenge; others were Don and Patty Wolf and .
The Beattys’ daughter, Piper, a graduate of and the recipient of a double-lung transplant, was 6 months old when she was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis.
Others taking part in the challenge were sous chef Max Koefed of ; executive pastry chef David Lewis from the ; Sean McGaughey, executive chef at ; Travis Smith, executive chef at ; Michael Winston, sous chef at ; and Greg Weabick, chef at .
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314, jdavidson@ denverpost.com or twitter.com/joannedavidson
Online: More pictures from this event denverpost.com/ seengallery
