Culinary cook-off serves up a wide-scale challenge
Kai Oliver-Kurtin | Downtown News
An international cooking competition pitting six local chefs against 60 others from all over North America in a fun battle of culinary wits makes its way to San Diego for the first time, on Sunday, Feb. 9, from 2 – 6 p.m.
Dubbed “Battledish,” the six chefs will be challenged in five different categories — including most delicious, most creative, most authentic, best cocktail, and best modern — but only one will get the title of Battledish King (or Queen), with awards for Gold, Silver or Bronze medals in each category.
Media personalities and chefs within the local community will join foodies and other attendees who will taste and then vote for the winner of this spirited throw down.
The chefs selected from various restaurants in the Downtown San Diego area include Jeremiah Bryant of Saltbox, George Cota of Kamikaze 7 Sushi Joint, Raymond Davoudi of Meze Grill, Todd Nash of Bub’s at the Ballpark, Sara Polczynski of Blind Burro, and Paul Rinaudo of Spike Africa’s. Each will serve up smaller versions of signature entrees from their respective menus, which will be available for $5 each or included in taste packages made available to attendees. Cocktail pairings are available for an additional $5.
“Competing in Battledish is a great way for us to gain some local support and help separate us from the idea that we’re just another hotel restaurant,” said Bryant, chef de cuisine at Saltbox.
Dishcrawl is the parent company holding the Battledish events in cities across the U.S. and Canada — all taking place over the same weekend. Their signature namesake events are usually intimate community pubcrawls, but Battledish is a larger scale event offering the local chefs international attention.
San Diego Dishcrawl Ambassador Lindsay Marks is hoping a few hundred guests turn out to spend their Sunday Funday in Downtown San Diego, rubbing elbows with chefs and sampling their food and cocktails during this Taste of Downtown-style event.
“Battledish is a great opportunity to try new restaurants at a good price,” Marks said. “Judges and guests will be judging the food in different categories, such as most modern, authentic and delicious.”
Votes are compiled from each city, and once the varying levels of attendance have been accounted for, a national winner will be named.
San Diego attendees can expect a variety of dishes if they visit all six restaurants during the four-hour Battledish event, including corndogs, scallops, sliders, sushi, tacos, and Mexican huaraches.
“It’s fun to see what competitors come to the table with, competition is always inspirational,” Bryant said. “We chose a dish that’s bold in flavor and represents local cuisine.”
Ticket packages are available online in advance for $45 (six dish/drink tickets) and $65 (12 tickets, allowing for two dishes and two drinks from each chef), as well as a VIP package for $125. Those who wish to play it by ear can pay a $15 admission and then pay for individual tastes at each restaurant for $5.
Event registration will be held at Car2Go, located at 633 Ninth Ave. in East Village, where maps for the “battleground” and menus for each chef will be provided. For more information, visit dishcrawl.com/battledishsd.
Kai Oliver-Kurtin is a local freelance reporter who also works full-time doing social media marketing for the U.S. Navy. She enjoys covering events, restaurant news, culture and entertainment. Contact her at [email protected].
