2009 Festival of the Arts Top Chef Fund-Raiser

View Event Photos and Winners

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Judges

Ted Allen - Guest Host and Judge

Emmy Award winner Ted Allen is host of Food Detectives, a new primetime series on Food Network. Ted has been a judge on every season of Bravos Top Chef and Food Networks Iron Chef America. He is host of the PBS series Uncorked: Wine Made Simple and the Food Networks newest show Chopped.
Photo by: Jason Friedman

Michael Ruhlman - Guest Judge

Michael Ruhlman served as The Next Iron Chef judge the year that local Cleveland Chef Michael Symon was chosen as the winner. Michael is also the author of six highly regarded books about chefs, food and cooking. His newest is Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking. He is a long-time resident of Cleveland Heights and enjoys discovering out of way eateries and bars in the Cleveland area.

Marsha Pledger - Judge

Journalist Marcia Pledger is a business columnist and reporter for The Plain Dealer and a new author. Her features include a weekly, “My Biggest Mistake...and How I Fixed It,” and a monthly story called "Women Empowered." She’s been a correspondent for Money Magazine for the last 16 years and freelances for other magazines.

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Chefs

Chef Brandt Evans - Blue Canyon Kitchen & Tavern

Chef Brandt Evans is one of Ohio’s top chefs since opening his first Blue Canyon Kitchen in Twinsburg. His love affair with food started at age 16, when he took his first kitchen job. He trained at the Culinary Institute of America, tackled the stoves at Philadelphia’s acclaimed Four Seasons Hotel and Charlie Palmer’s Manhattan restaurant Alva’s.  Returning to Cleveland, he began working on a menu for a new restaurant, Kosta’s.  He opened Blue Canyon in 2002.

Chef Rocco Whalen - Fahrenheit

Chef Rocco Whalen’s Fahrenheit is now in its seventh year of wowing guests.  A Cleveland native, Rocco graduated from Pennsylvania Culinary Institute at age 19.  He then headed west for five years to work in restaurants owned by Wolfgang Puck, often toiling side-by-side with Puck at Spago, Obachin, Granita, and Chinois.  In 2001, he returned to Cleveland to work as a sous chef at Blue Point Grille before opening Fahrenheit in Tremont.

Chef Timothy Stadnik - Giovanni's Restorante

As executive chef at Giovanni’s, Cleveland’s prominent and respected fine-dining restaurant, Tim brings to the kitchen more than ten years of training from the Pennsylvania Culinary Institute and previous cooking experience in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Tim says the perfect dish is made with a mix of creativity and originality and is only complete when everyone is having fun.

Chef Rachael Spieth - Three Birds

At age 25, Racheal Spieth is the executive chef at one of the best restaurants in town.  After attending Nordonia and Hudson high schools, Rachael graduated from the Le cordon Bleu culinary school in Pittsburgh.  She worked at the Cabin restaurant in Aurora before becoming a line cook in Three Birds’ pantry.  After three years she was appointed as Three Birds’ executive chef.

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