Mark your calendar: Sunday, April 11, 2010

From 2 to 5 p.m. that afternoon, Ten Rivers Food Web and Linn Benton Community College’s Culinary Arts Department will host the first ever Chefs’ Show-Off in the cafeteria and dining hall of LBCC’s main campus near Tangent.

Four chefs from the Ten Rivers region will each receive a box of ingredients from local farms, ranches and food producers and have one hour to plan and prepare a meal from the contents. Talk about  creative juices flowing! This friendly competition will be emceed by James Cassidy, OSU Soil Scientist and faculty advisor for the OSU Organic Growers’ Club(as well as former chef and rock band star!).

When the finish bell rings, five lucky judges from the local food scene will taste, rate and bestow prizes on the winners.

Attendees can watch the chefs compete or visit the Food Fair in the adjoining dining hall. There, they can visit with farmers, ranchers, fishers, food producers, restaurateurs, and representatives from food-related organizations throughout the Ten Rivers region (roughly Linn, Benton and Lincoln counties). They can taste samples*, find out where unique local foods are available and what is happening in the robust local food scene. Yes, even in April, as far away as you can get from “peak harvest” time.

Springhill Cellars (Albany), Harris Bridge Vineyard (Philomath/Wren), Calapooia Brewing (Albany) and Block 15 Brewery (Corvallis)  will offer samples of their beverages to those who purchase a $5 Beer & Wine Passport (and, of course, are of legal age).

Competing Chefs: Charlie Branford, Local Ocean Seafood of Newport, Matt Bennet of Sybaris Restaurant in Albany, Scott Shufelt of Fireworks Restaurant in Corvallis and Matthew Woods of the Mennonite Village in Albany.

Tickets are $10 per person, available at the door (cash or check only, no credit or debit cards). Save $3 with a coupon available for download on this site. One coupon per ticket.

Directions to Linn-Benton Community College, Albany Campus. The Cafeteria and Dining Hall are located on the Second Floor of the Calapooia Center.

Local food door prizes will be awarded every half hour (or more!) and there will be a raffle. Among the generous donors of food or gift certificates are: Hazelnut Hill, Big River Restaurant, Lochmead Dairy, Zias SW Cuisine, Spectrum Light Organic, Oregon’s Choice Gourmet Seafood, Cloud 9, Nana’s Irish Pub of Newport, Linda Ziedrich, author of The Joys of Jams & Jellies, Country Fair Produce, Pacific SourdoughBreads, and Bread of Angels.

*Among those sampling foods will be: Island Wild Seafoods, Feast Alternative, Bay 839 (Newport), Corvallis and Willamette Local Foods online, Corvallis Brewing Supply (sodas), Linda Ziedrich (jams), Noris Dairy, Nearly Normal’s, Gathering Together Farm Restaurant, Country Fair Produce, Bread of Angels (Harrisburg),  Wilt’s Blueberries, Pacific Sourdough Breads, Nature’s Fountain, Sunbow Farm, The Thyme Garden, Heavenly Harvest, Nuts for Jesus (Sweet Home).

A very special thank you to our generous sponsors:

Stahlbush Island Farms	Oregon Tilth	Umpqua Bank

Cascade Pacific Resource Conservation and Development

plus Nichols Garden Nursery of Albany , Local Ocean Seafoods and ARR Place of Newport.