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.
