2015 Celebrity & Chef Cookoff
Posted on June 15, 2015 by Ching under Events.
Brian and I had a blast at the Celebrity & Chef Cookoff on Tuesday night. It’s a benefit for the Wichita Orpheum Theatre and it’s one of our favorite fundraising events.
We missed it last year because we were celebrating Brian’s 40th birthday in the Dominican Republic. Our friend Jimmy (pictured above) who is on the Orpheum board was nice enough to save us a spot at the table this year.
The event has grown so much since the last time we attended in 2013. The event was held at the Wichita Marriott hotel that year. Because of the increased attendance they had to move the event to the Intrust Bank Arena last year and that’s where the event was held again this year.
Brian and I are nerds and actually asked for permission to park in the special Lexus VIP parking lot across from the arena. Lots of other people parked there but I didn’t see any other yellow hang tags. I guess we didn’t have to ask for permission after all because it was pretty much open to the public. LOL. We always follow the rules, though.
I’m not sure if they did the same thing last year but this year they had our bid numbers printed on our wristbands. It made me feel like a hospital patient, which was odd, but made bidding really convenient so, in that regard, it was brilliant.
I didn’t really find anything that I couldn’t live without in the silent auction but some of the live auction packages were really good. I really wanted the “Movie Night at the Orpheum” package where you could have a private movie night for up to 1,200 guests, which would be great for a birthday or anniversary celebration. The package included free popcorn and fountain drinks for 500 people. If only we had that many friends!
The other package that we found appealing was the “Rock the Intrust Bank Arena” package for a concert suite, food, and beverages at the Intrust Bank Arena for the Boston and Blue Oyster Cult concert on August 9. The package includes use of the concert suite, 16 tickets (which is about how many friends we have that might be interested in going), 3 parking passes and $500 to spend on food and beverages (not including sales tax and gratuity). This would have been a perfect way to celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary, which is on the 10th. Alas, the bidding started out at our max budget. LOL.
I think they had record-breaking attendance this year and they also had great participation from area restaurants who generously donated food and services for the event. We got to try food from restaurants we haven’t even visited.
The following restaurants hosted tasting tables:
- Bella Vita Bistro
- Bob & Luigi’s
- Café 402
- Delicious Deliveries
- Firebirds Wood Fired Grill
- Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers
- Jersey’s Grill & Bar
- Kanai Sushi
- Lotus Leaf Café
- Lou’s Charcuteria
- Mead’s Corner
- Molino’s Mexican Cuisine
- Old Mill Tasty Shop
- Chef Jeremy Pacacha
- Rocco’s Little Italy
- SAVOR at Intrust Bank Arena
- Taste & See/Gianni Bacci’s
- Todd Brian’s Brick Street Café & Tavern
- Twizted Confections
- Wagonmasters
- Woodfire Grille at Kansas Star Casino
Brian and I had two totally different strategies for sampling all the food. I ate as I went so I was completely full halfway through, which was a real bummer because I really wanted to try everything. Brian, on the other hand, collected food from almost all of the tasting tables before feasting.
Brian brought almost a dozen little plates back to our table. This is a picture of just a few of them. It was quite hilarious. I think both times he ran into Chef Jason, who was one of the judges, he had several plates full of food in his hands.
The other judges included Bobby Lane, Chester’s Chophouse Executive Chef, and Denise Neil, Wichita Eagle food columnist/writer. The late Tanya Tandoc was also slated to judge. May her beautiful soul rest in peace.
The team of Ben George, Executive Chef of SAVOR at Intrust Bank Arena, and Adam Mills, President and CEO of the Kansas Restaurant and Hospitality Association won this year’s cookoff. Other celebrities who participate in challenge included Barbara Baan, host of KSN’s Baan Appetit; Dan Ihm, Vice Present and General Manager of the Kansas Star Casino; Coleen Jennison, Cox Communications Market Vice President for Kansas; Mayor Jeff Longwell; Gary Oborny, Occidental Management Chairman/CEO; Scott Redler, Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers Vice President/COO; and Jon Rosell, Executive Director of the Medical Society of Sedgwick County (MSSC).
The other chefs who competed were John Conklin, Rocco’s Little Italy; second place finisher Jason Fisher, Café 402 located inside the Downtown Wichita YMCA; Paul Freimuth, Harvest Kitchen located at the Hyatt Regency; Paul Guerrero, Firebirds Wood Fired Grill; Jim McNulty, Kansas Star Casino; Jeremy Pacacha, Eurest Dining Services at Spirit Aerosystems; and third place finisher and last year’s co-champion Adrian Prud Homme de Lodder, Bella Vita Bistro.
Even though four-time champion Chef Jason Febres (of Taste & See/Gianni Bacci’s) wasn’t competing this year there was some stiff competition. When I walked by to take these photos, I could tell that they were cooking up some amazing stuff based on the aromas wafting through the air.
What an amazing event, benefitting a great cause — the Wichita Orpheum Theatre. We try to support the theater by attending events there every chance we get. Anyway, I hope Brian and I have the opportunity to attend the event again next year.
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