Disclosure:  I am receiving two tickets to attend the Diamond Chef Arkansas Competition in return for my support and review of the event.  As always, my opinions are my own.

The Diamond Chef Competition is a premier foodie event in Arkansas and will be held on June 3 at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock.  It is modeled after Food Network’s Iron Chef America competition and promises to be every bit as intense and exciting.  I am so excited to be among the over 700 others who will be in attendance for this culinary showdown.

Photo Source: ArkansasOnline.com

As with the network program, the chefs will be presented with a mystery ingredient to be used as the prominent ingredient in each dish that is prepared.  They will also have access to a fully stocked pantry and will be allowed two sous chefs to assist them. Each chef and his sous chefs will have  60 minutes to prepare three dishes using the surprise ingredient, which will be announced just before the start of the competition.  While guests enjoy their own three-course meal, the competing chefs will create three dishes that will be judged on plate presentations, creativity, taste, sanitation and safety.

Photo Source: RedKitchenRecipes.com

This year’s annual competition pits three-time Diamond Chef winner and reigning champion, Chef Daniel Capello, executive chef at the Chenal Country Club, against challenger Chef Marc Guizol, executive sous chef at The Capital Hotel, in what will be a kitchen showdown at the Statehouse Convention Center’s Wally Allen Ballroom.  A wine and craft beer reception will begin at 6 p.m., and the program and dinner will follow at 7 p.m. 

TV personality and fellow foodie,Pamela Smith, also a PTC Foundation Board member and spokesperson for the Little Rock School District, will emcee the event while Chef Andre Poirot will serve as a technical judge who will score the competing chefs on sanitation and organization.  Past Diamond Chef Arkansas winners include Chef Donnie Ferneau, Chef Michael Powell, Chef Daniel Capello and Chef Jason Knapp. 

Attendees will have the opportunity of participating in both a silent and a live auction which include trips, household and kitchen items, restaurant packages and my favorite, parties catered by some of Arkansas’ top chefs.  The auction also includes a dinner prepared by Executive Chef Eric Klein of Spago Las Vegas.  I can definitely think of ways I could enjoy any (or all) of those!

Photo Source: FancyPantsFoodie.com

This event is a fundraiser for Pulaski Technical College’s Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management Institute.  I am fortunate to live so close to this new, state-of-the-art facility and have enjoyed watching its development and success.  Arkansans can be proud of this classy facility and its strong program.

This year’s judges included the following:

• Chef Kyle Richardson, vice president of the American Culinary Federation Central Region and professor of Culinary Arts at Joliet Junior College in Chicago, Ill.
• Chef Jeff Bacon, vice president of the American Culinary Federation Southeast Region and founder/executive chef of the nonprofit Triad Community Kitchen in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
• Chef Andre Poirot, executive chef at Crowne Plaza in Little Rock 
• Chef Paul Bash, first president and member of the Arkansas Chefs’ Federation Hall of Fame and executive chef at the legendary Restaurant Jacques and Suzanne’s

Photo Source:  FancyPantsFoodie.com

Lisa and Darwin Buehler, owners of Allegra Print & Imaging, are co-chairing Diamond Chef Arkansas. Darwin has been a member of the Pulaski Technical College Foundation Board of Directors since 2010. Pamela Smith, also a PTC Foundation Board member and spokesperson for the Little Rock School District, will emcee the event.

“The chefs who competed in the preliminary event were all outstanding,” said Lisa Buehler, event co-chair, “and the competition at the finale between Chef Capello and Chef Guizol should bring that same level of energy and excitement.  They will provide an incredible show!”

The PTC Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management Institute currently serves more than 500 students. The school offers Associate of Applied Science degrees in culinary arts and hospitality management; technical certificates in culinary arts, baking and pastry, and wine and spirits; and certificates of proficiency in basic baking, basic food preparation, basic pastry, cake decorating, food purchasing, hospitality and restaurant, hospitality and tourism, professional study of spirits and mixology, and wine and spirits studies.

The Pulaski Technical College Foundation is the official fundraising and private gift-receiving agency for the college. Charted as a non-profit organization for educational purposes, the foundation solicits and receives tax-deductible gifts and manages these gifts and bequests for the benefit of the college. The college’s mission is to provide access to high quality education that promotes student learning, to enable individuals to develop to their fullest potential and to support the economic development of the state.

According to Ganelle Holman, Executive Director of the Foundation, the money raised through Diamond Chef will benefit students at the Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management Institute (CAHMI).  The curriculum rivals that of any culinary school in the nation, yet the tuition remains dramatically lower.  With accreditations from the American Culinary Federation Education Foundation and the Wine and Spirits Education Trust in London, England, CAHMI on Pulaski Tech’s south campus is a treasure trove of development and culture for our state.  The building is the first LEED SILVER Certified, zero-waste facility, and it is fast becoming the program of choice for students in the region and throughout the country.   Not only is support of this event a sound investment in the economic development of our state, it is also an investment in the students’ future.

Tickets to Diamond Chef Arkansas are $200 per person and can be reserved by calling Bret Graves at 812-2771 or online at www.pulaskitech.edu/diamondchef