WINNER with his Golden Whisk! Photo by http://www.dabooth.org/
Sunday July 10th I got to attend an event. Was there a winner? Was it awesome? Was there a secret ingredient? Did you get to eat a bunch of free yummy vegan food? And, tell the truth, did you gain weight while you were there? To all the *normal* Portland questions one would ask me I answer a blanket, YES!!! But for more specific answers see below.
The winner was Piper Dixon of Kitchen Dances. Of course it was awesome. Yea huh, Ginger!!! Ummm, can you say vegan nacho bar!!?! And, yea, three pounds, oooff!
Now let get down to the deets: The Vegan Iron Chef held its second ever Vegan Iron Chef competition to a sold out crowd. Hosts Isa Chandra Moskowitz (Post Punk Kitchen) and Nicole J. Georges (Invincible Summer) entertained a rather sweaty crowd inside the warehouse space Refuge on SE Yamhill. With celeb, or shall I say “Portland famous” judges, Grant Butler (writer for The Oregonian’s FOODay section), Julie Hasson (co-owner of Native Bowl and author of cookbook Vegan Diner), John Janulis (co-owner of my favorite bar in Portland Bye and Bye), and last but definitely not least as he was by far the most talkative, Aaron Adams (Chef: Portobello Vegan Trattoria).
The fierce compitition was as follows:
Piper Dixon, Kitchen Dances
Morgan Grudstein-Helvey, Dovetail Bakery
Jeff Ridabock, Homegrown Smoker
This was an event for the ages and was so much to take in, everyone who competed was beyond talented and came up with delicious dishes. For a guest like me, the highlights were the free samples by Brass Tacks Sandwiches (can you say vegan salami sandwich made from scratch?), Petunia’s Pies & Pastries (bake good, yummm), and Heidi Ho Organics (fake cheese!!) and the photo-booth!
Follow Vegan Iron Chef on Facebook and make sure to get your tickets early next year because if tickets sold out in a matter of days in year two you can expect a sell out in mere hours in year three.
WINNER!