2013 Vitamix® Challenge Winner Announced: Chef Evan Hennessey Blends Above the Competition for 2013 Vitamix Challenge Crown
CLEVELAND – Evan Hennessey, chef at Stages at One Washington in Dover, N.H., successfully out-blended the competition during the recent 2013 Vitamix® Challenge at the StarChefs.com International Chefs Congress in New York City. Hennessey, along with chefs from across the country, submitted original Vitamix recipes for a chance to compete in this year’s uniquely styled blending contest. Six finalists, including Hennessey, were selected and tasked with creating a dish that showcased the Vitamix blender in innovative, creative and delicious ways.
Hennessey’s flavorful, winning dish consisted of rockweed and fish skin crusted scallop mousse, encapsulated Castelvetrano olives, Boston Marrow squash custard, tarragon, agretti, oyster gel chips and acqua pazza. The dish was inspired by the New England area that Hennessey calls home.
“The focus of the dish was the ocean. I wanted to create the overall sense, texture and taste of the environment. Right down to including some agretti, a local sea grass,” said Hennessey.
While competing against the other top chefs was no easy task, Hennessey credits his win to his ability to show versatility in techniques through a multitude of textures and temperatures he created using the Vitamix blender.
According to the judging panel, which was made up of Rocco DiSpirito, Elizabeth Falkner, Daniel Holzman and Richard Martin, Hennessey’s hot and stabilized Boston Marrow squash custard and ocean theme placed him above the competing chefs.
Sponsored exclusively by Vitamix, the global leader in high-performance blending equipment, the Vitamix Challenge took place on Oct. 1. Participating chefs had 60 minutes to prepare a single dish that showcased their originality and creative blending techniques to judges. Points were awarded based on the unique use of a Vitamix, taste and overall dish presentation.
“The Vitamix Challenge provides us with a great perspective of how top chefs are using our products to develop and perfect their own unique creations,” said Christy Bezuijen, commercial marketing manager, Vitamix. “We’re grateful to be a part of chefs’ inspirations and culinary triumphs.”
In addition to the title of 2013 Vitamix Challenge Champion, Hennessey received the ultimate Vitamix package containing a Vita-Prep® 3, a Vitamix XL® and The Quiet One®, plus a $500 American Express gift card. All six competing chefs received a $500 Travel Certificate for travel to New York City, a three-day Industry Pass to attend the StarChefs.com International Chefs Congress and an exclusive Vitamix travel bag.
Visit http://www.starchefs.com/cook/icc-sponsor/vitamix/vitamix-challenge/2013 to learn more about Vitamix’s support for StarChefs.com, including partnership information, product information, chef recommendations and testimonials, as well as recipes using Vitamix equipment.
About Vitamix®
Vita-Mix® Corporation (“Vitamix”) is a privately held family-owned and -operated company founded in 1921 that manufactures high-performance blending equipment for home and commercial use. The company’s commercial customer list reads like a “Who’s Who” of major restaurant chains, and gourmet chefs say their Vitamix machines are as important to them as their knives. A recognized leader in marketing and product innovation, Vitamix founder William G. “Papa” Barnard created the first infomercial in 1949 to demonstrate how the Vitamix blender could help people improve their health with whole foods, and the company developed the first true commercial blender in the early 1990s, which ignited the smoothie movement. Vitamix, whose products are known worldwide for their performance, durability, and reliability, continues to win awards for product innovation and is a recipient of the president’s prestigious “E” Award for Exports. Headquartered in Olmsted Township, Ohio, 19 miles from Cleveland, Vitamix products are manufactured in Northeast Ohio and sold in 100 countries. For more information, please visit www.vitamix.com.
About StarChefs.com
StarChefs.com™, the magazine for culinary insiders, has been serving the restaurant industry since 1995. StarChefs.com’s original culinary content is driven by in-person tastings and interviews across the world. Its mission is to catalyze culinary professionals’ success and give them the tools they need to overcome their specific challenges. In addition to featuring top chefs, pastry chefs, sommeliers, and mixologists, StarChefs.com’s Culinary JobFinder is the leading job board connecting culinary and hospitality professionals to careers in the foodservice industry. StarChefs.com™ features more than 30,000 published pages of original, chef-focused culinary content and generates traffic of over 30 million hits a month and was nominated for Best Web Site for Food and Nutrition by the James Beard Foundation.
