2017 Wild About Game - Exciting Line-Up at Resort at the Mountain

Nicky USA recently announced the 2017 lineup for the 17th Annual Wild About Game, the friendly, but fierce annual cooking battle between Portland and Seattle’s best and brightest chefs. The event offers a rare opportunity to rub elbows with the region’s top rising star chefs in an intimate setting, at one of the country’s most fun live action cooking competitions. This year’s celebration of specialty game will be held at the Resort at the Mountain in Welches, Ore., on Sunday, October 8, 2017. At Wild About Game, Nicky Farms proteins, the house brand at Nicky USA, will be prepared by some of the region’s best chefs, as the Pacific Northwest’s favorite specialty meat purveyor hosts the event to thank their loyal customers and suppliers, farmers, artisans and restaurants.

During this meat-centric culinary event in the Pacific Northwest, four chefs from Portland and four chefs from Seattle will go head-to-head in a cooking competition in four different game meat-based categories. Each dish is presented to a panel of renowned culinary experts and attendees for judging. Guests will also be able to sample each chef’s dish and judge for themselves.

Competing chefs for the Portland vs. Seattle battle are:

Portland

Jose Chesa – Chesa

Matt Sigler – Renata

Sarah Schafer – Irving St. Kitchen

Phil Oswalt– MAC

Seattle

Paul Osher – Porkchop & Co.

Jason Stratton – Mbar

Andrew Gregory & Ricardo Valdes - The London Plane

Chris Lobkovich - Quinn’s Pub

The People’s Choice award winner will be voted on by Wild About Game attendees and one chef will take home the ultimate Nicky USA’s Wild About Game prize of Overall Winner, to be named by this year’s esteemed judges, former Gourmet editor Ruth Reichl (6 time James Beard award winning writer), Justin Chapple (James Beard Award nominee, FOOD & WINE) and Karen Brooks (James Beard Distinguished Craig Claiborne Restaurant Review Award 2017, Portland Monthly). Often a prediction of future success, past winners of the event include chefs Gabriel Rucker of Le Pigeon and Gregory Denton of Ox who both went on to receive James Beard awards, and last year’s winner and Food & Wine Best New Chef Edouardo Jordan of Seattle’s Salare.

One of the highlights of Nicky USA’s Wild About Game is the Artisan Marketplace, offering an exclusive tasting of the best of the Northwest, including foie gras, artisan salts, cheeses, chocolates, ice cream, spirits, wine, beer, and the most exciting new game products from the Nicky USA lineup. Top Northwest chefs are paired with artisans to create one-of-a-kind dishes featuring favorite local products. Attendees can taste these items, and talk with the chefs, artisans and producers who create them - mingling with some of the biggest names in the Northwest’s food community.

Confirmed participating vendors for the 2017 Artisan Marketplace include: 33 Books, Anderson Ranch Lamb, Beam-Suntory Spirits, Block 15 Brewery, Bull In China, Bull Run Distillery, Carlton Farms, Carter Cutlery, Clear Creek Distillery, Case Study Coffee, Classic Foods, Creekstone Farms Premium Beef, Ecliptic Brewing, Fermin Iberico/Wagshal’s Imports, Gilgamesh Brewing, Grochau Cellars Winery, Hardmill, Hudson Valley Foie Gras, La Belle Farms/Bella Bella Gourmet, Manchester Farms Quail, Marshall’s Haute Sauce, Mary’s Chicken, Nicky USA/Nicky Farms, No Bull Specialty Foods, Nueske’s Smoked Meats, Olympia Provisions, Painted Hills Natural Beef, Patz & Hall Winery, Reverend Nat’s Cider, SakeOne, Salt & Straw, Snake River Farms.

Tickets will be $69 per person in advance, and $79 at the door, and will go on sale on July 8th. Please visit http://www.nickyusa.com/wild-about-game/ for upcoming ticket and event information.