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Nine Local Chefs to Compete for Boalsburg Farmers Market Golden Basket Award

Posted by James Eisenstein on 08/04, 2014 at 05:59 AM

Nine Local Chefs to Compete for Boalsburg Farmers Market Golden Basket Award

An entry in last year's Golden Basket award.

Nine of the best local chefs from Central Pennsylvania’s finest restaurants will compete for the Boalsburg Farmers Market Fourth Annual Golden Basket Award on Tuesday, Aug. 5, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Part of Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA)‘s “Local Foods Week,” the event will feature the chefs preparing a main dish and two sides from ingredients produced by Boalsburg Farmers Market vendors.

This will be the largest judged competition among chefs in the State College Area, and it has been described “as the culinary Olympics of Centre County.” The chefs will gather their ingredients at the start of market, then prepare their plates for submission to the judges in front of market guests.

The participating chefs are: Craig Hamilton (Village at Penn State), Zach Lorber (Penn State Altoona), Sean Kelly (Kelly’s Steak House), Kirsch McMaster (Nittany Lion Inn), Mark Johnson (Zola’s), Jonathan Forshey (Gamble Mill), Jeremiah McClanahan (Fasta Pasta), Adam Sluzis (Facia Luna), and George Bush (Hoag’s Catering).

Judges for the event are State College Mayor Elizabeth Goreham; Kevin Kassab, director of State College’s Department of Health; Jamie Oberdick (editor of WPSU’s Local Food Journey); local food writer Michele Marchetti; Kate Delano, editor of State College Magazine; and Patty Satalia of WPSU-TV. They will select the best salad, best vegetable or fruit dish, and best main dish, and will choose the best overall submission as the winner of the Golden Basket Award. The award, a golden basket given to the winner each year, is suitable for display at the winner’s restaurant.

Market co-manager Tony Sapia of Gemelli Bakers, who conceived the idea for this competition, observed that “This will be a great opportunity both for restaurant guests to see the chefs who prepare their meals in action, and for the chefs to meet and talk with their guests.” He also noted that it provides an opportunity for the chefs to get to know each other.

There is ample, convenient free parking for the event at the market. For questions or further information, contact Jim Eisenstein, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) .

Tags: GoldenBasketAward | LocalFoodsWeek | BoalsburgFarmersMarket |