The Chef of the Fest presented by NatureSweet D'Vines competition is an action-packed culinary showdown involving 60 of San Diego’s top fine dining restaurants and chefs. Chefs compete in one of five categories and are judged by a panel of local and national celebrity chefs, authors and members of the food and wine media. Through a tiered judging process, one chef is selected as the best representation of innovative, fresh, flavorful cuisine and crowned “Chef of the Fest” walking away with $50,000 in cash and prizes and some serious bragging rights.
Here’s how it works:
The Chef of the Fest presented by NatureSweet D'Vines competition takes place on November 17 during the San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival's Grand Tasting event
60 Fine Dining Chefs participate in the competition for a chance to win $50,000 in cash and prizes
Chefs compete in their individual tents, preparing over 1,000 samples for close to 4,000 discriminating wine and food enthusiasts, as well as the competition judges.
The first round of judges sample each chef’s Festival dish and turn in their scores to the head judge
Once the winners from each of the five categories have been identified, the team of celebrity judges visits each category winner to select the “Chef of the Fest”
The winning chef is announced at 3:30 at the VIP Tent’s main stage.
All judging takes place from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. allowing only four hours for chefs to wow both guests and judges alike.
Only San Diego County chefs may participate
Grand Prizes Include:
Vacation of a lifetime at the exclusive hot spot for the rich and famous - Turtle Island Fiji Resort. The vacation includes round-trip airfare on Air Pacific. During the chef’s stay on Turtle, his/her home will be one of only 14 " Grand bures”. The island stay includes all meals, alcohol, and activities such as scuba diving, snorkeling, massages, etc. and is valued at $17,000 with airfare.
A professional range valued at $5,000 donated by US Foodservice
A steer, butchered by and donated by Brandt Beef
A full-page advertisement in Dining Out Magazine
A weekend stay and spa services at any W Hotel property nationwide
A Buzz Page featuring both chef and restaurant in San Diego Magazine
$5,000 cash prize purse split among winner and four runner ups ($1500 winning Chef, $1500 to winning restaurant, $500 for each of 4 runner ups)
Professional Chef knives donated by Dick knives
Other prizes to be announced
Judges include:
James Oseland, Editor-In-Chief, Saveur Magazine
Paul Lukacs, Wine Editor, Saveur Magazine
Talli V. Counsel, Presidential Master Chef
Laura Werlin, James Beard Award Winning Author
Maria Hunt, Food Columnist and Author, San Diego Union Tribune
Maureen Sullivan, Publisher, San Diego Magazine
Chef Vikki Nulman (organizing chef), of former Sol Café in Santa Fe / Culinary Instructor
Are you a San Diego Chef or Restaurateur interested in competing in this year's Chef of the Fest? Click below for Judging Rules and Entry Form.
Rules and Regulations >>
