Nickel City Chef Season 5 Begins!

Kevin Telaak

Nickel City Chef, a Feed Your Soul production, is an exciting and popular cooking competition, but it is so much more than that, too. You can read more about its mission here.

Nickel City Chef kicked off its fifth season on February 24th with a battle featuring Arden Farm‘s kale as a secret ingredient. Arden Farm is an organic farm located in East Aurora and  operated by the great grandson of Elbert Hubbard, founder of the Roycroft.

Challenging Chef Michael Obarka of Ristorante Lombardo took on Nickel City Chef JJ Richert of Torches. The two are longtime friends who cut their teeth together at Westwood Country Club. Judges for the day included Janice Okun, the former restaurant critic and food editor of the Buffalo News, Nelson Starr, a Buffalo Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, and Chef Mark Mistriner, CEC, founder and Division Chair of the new Niagara Falls Culinary Institute.

As always, the show took place at Artisan Kitchens & Baths and was hosted by Bert Gambini and Chef Mike Andrzejewski. Photography by Wabi Sabi Foto. Video by Brian Mihok.

Here is the URL for this episode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbYAK5I1Xcc

Next on the roster is the 22nd installment of the show which takes place on March 10th and features Nickel City Chef Jennifer Boye of the Mansion versus Chef Teddy Bryant of Lloyd Taco Trucks.

Nickel City Chef’s fifth season sold out in less than a day. Feed Your Soul, the production company behind the series, seeks to showcase the culinary talent, in the field and the kitchen, that exists here in WNY.

This
season is sponsored by Niagara Falls Culinary Institute, Wegmans, Cutco, Artisan Kitchens & Baths, Leonard Oakes Estate Winery, D’Avolio, Healthy Options from Independent Health Foundation, Mansion on Delaware Avenue, You & Who,  and fine appliance companies, Viking, Fisher & Paykel, DCS, and Sub Zero/Wolf.

WNY Cupcake Competition Features Local Bakeries at Artisan Kitchens and Baths

Kevin Telaak

Nickel City Cupcake Challenge is third in a series of baking/decorating challenges developed by Feed Your Soul, a Buffalo-based company that produces culinary competitions, farm tours, and more. (Previous events: Sweet & Spooky Cake Challenge, Buffalo Wedding Cake Challenge)

On November 4, 2012, nearly 200 audience members will pack the Artisan Kitchens & Baths loft showroom on Buffalo’s west side. A live, head-to-head baking competition will feature three of the region’s most creative and talented cupcake artists. Each baker will compete in two heats—the first, to present the judges and audience with their signature cupcake, the second, to bake and decorate original cupcakes utilizing a secret ingredient.

The audience will watch from their seats, which provide a great view of all three competitors, as well as up close shots from a roving camera which beams images onto the showroom’s dozen or more overhead flat panel monitors. Hosting the event is Buffalo personality Bert Gambini.

Elsewhere in the large refurbished 19th-century warehouse, guests can sample Lake Effect Ice Cream and snacks prepared by Sample restaurant. Each guest will also cast a vote for their favorite signature cupcake.

Nickel City Cake Challenge is an event designed to celebrate the art of baking and to drive home the idea that our region is flush with talented bakers who deserve the opportunity to truly showcase their talents in a public forum. The program also works to support small, independent businesses.

The 2012 Cupcake Challenge competitors include:

Justina Adams of The Buffalo Cakery ~ Buffalo
Genevieve Perryman of Cupcake Orchard ~ Orchard Park
Kelly Audette of Fairy Cakes Cupcakery ~Buffalo

The 2012 Cupcake Challenge judges include:

Brian Donaghy,
Criollo Group, Chocolatier, pastry chef, and two-time competitor on Food Network’s “Cake Challenge”
Alli Suriani,
BuffaloEats.org, Cupcake lover and part of duo behind Buffalo’s most popular food blog, Buffalo Eats.
Mark Mistriner, Niagara Culinary Center, Culinary Educator and the American Culinary Federation’s Northeast Chef of the Year

A limited number of tickets remain:  http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/28116

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Feed Your Soul is a company dedicated to developing and executing both private and public events focused on the food and agriculture of Western New York.  Feed Your Soul was founded on the firm belief that agritourism and culinary tourism should not only be a major aspect of living and traveling in WNY, but are a fundamental component to Buffalo’s renaissance. It is best known for its popular Nickel City Chef series, Cake Challenge, and annual farm tours.

Nickel City Chef Season 4

Kevin Telaak

 

Nickel City Chef Season Four Dates & Ticket Sales Announced!

Nickel City Chef’s production company, Feed Your Soul, has been hard at work lining up secret ingredients, special guest judges and challengers for our fourth season of cooking competitions which will feature celebrity judges, WNY’s top chefs, and homegrown ingredients.

Following on the heels of Western New York’s hottest selling holiday release, Nickel City Chef: Buffalo’s Finest Chefs & Ingredients, we anticipate tickets for all four shows in 2012 to sell out within 36 hours.

Taking place in the stunning loft showroom of Buffalo’s Artisan Kitchens & Baths, Season Four’s schedule of dates is listed below. Tickets for the 2012 season go on sale at noon Friday, January 6th. Tickets are $38 each and include catered gourmet snacks and access to a cash bar during the event. We do not recommend this event for children under 16.

Links to online ticketing will be available on our website at NickelCityChef.com.

Many thanks to our sponsors: Wegmans, D’Avolio, Mansion on Delaware Avenue, Independent Health, the Buffalo chapter of the Chaine des Rotisseurs, and our partners, Buffalo Spree, Artisan Kitchens & Baths, and Taste of Buffalo presented by Tops.

Below we have noted the 2012 schedule, as well as Nickel City Chef’s Mission Statement. Please contact us if you are in need of hi-resolution photos or video footage. Each show is hosted by WBFO’s Bert Gambini and Buffalo’s top chef, Chef Mike Andrzejewski of Sea Bar.


Sunday, February 19th

Nickel City Chef Krista Van Wagner ofCurly’s versus Challenging Chef Frank Mercado of M&T Bank’s Private Executive Dining Room

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Sunday, March 4th

Nickel City Chef Brian Mietus of Bacchus versus Challenging Chef Dunbar Berdine of Black Rock Kitchen & Bar 

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Sunday, March 25th

Nickel City Chef Adam Goetz of Sample versus Challenging Chef Christopher Daigler of Encore

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Sunday, April 10th

Nickel City Chef JJ Richert of Torches versus Chef Chris Dorsaneo of Lloyd Taco Truck


 

The Mission

Feed Your Soul is proud to present Western New York with its fourth season of Nickel City Chef, a unique and entertaining event designed to expose the general public to some of our area’s top chefs and farmers.

Nickel City Chef is as much about Western New York as it is about cooking. We are privileged to live in an area with a rich history enhanced by hearty ethnic foods and one of America’s greatest contributions to casual cuisine—the chicken wing. And, while these culinary icons are as important to Buffalo as professional sports teams and world-class architecture, in culinary terms, they are not all that we have to offer. In kitchens all over the city chefs with technical skills, adventurous natures, and pristine palates are preparing well-composed plates that would dizzy even the harshest critic. Nickel City Chef is designed to provide an arena in which these talented individuals can showcase dishes that may be too daring or complicated to warrant a permanent position on a dinner menu.

Anyone who spends time in Buffalo quickly realizes that our region is unique. Independently-owned restaurants appear at nearly every turn in our city, but many of our most dedicated foodies are unfamiliar with the breathtaking bounty that grows mere miles from our doorsteps. With over 1,300 farms in Erie County and more than 6,000 others in our region’s other counties, we are a notable contributor to New York States’s well-established annual yield of apples and milk. But what you may find surprising is that we also have farmers who grow a wide variety of premium crops. Produce such as mushrooms, artichokes, kiwi fruit, and dozens of varieties of garlic and heirloom tomatoes aren’t unheard of in these parts. Still others raise unique breeds of hogs and cows, collect honey, or make artisanal cheeses. By committing to using a locally raised or produced item as our secret ingredient in every challenge, Nickel City Chef hopes to enlighten and encourage pride in our region’s fantastic agricultural abilities.

Investing your hard-earned food dollars in Western New York, whether it is at locally owned restaurant or in your local supermarket’s produce section, has a positive, long-term impact on our regional economy. Did you know that spending your money with a locally-owned restaurant keeps 3x more money, here, circulating in Western New York than it does when you eat at a chain? Additionally, locally owned businesses typically reinvest in the local economy at a 60% higher rate than a chain.


About Feed Your Soul

Feed Your Soul is a company dedicated to developing and executing both private and public events focused on the food and agriculture of Western New York. Feed Your Soul was founded by food editor Christa Glennie Seychew, whose firm belief that agritourism and culinary tourism should not only be a major aspect of traveling in WNY, but are a fundamental component to Buffalo’s renaissance. Nickel City Chef is only one of Feed Your Soul’s projects, see the Feed Your Soul website for a closer look at this homegrown WNyY business (www.eatlocalbuffalo.com).

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