Page 32 - Southern Oregon Magazine Winter 2019

RECAP
buzz | tidbits

12TH ANNUAL ASHLAND

CULINARY FESTIVAL

Top Mixologist: Caitlin Hilligoss of Peerless Restaurant A WEEKEND OF EXCITEMENT FOR THE FOUR-DAY EVENT
Photo by Graham Lewis Last November, Travel Ashland and the Ashland Chamber of
Commerce produced the Ashland Culinary Festival, welcoming more
visitors and locals (over 1,800) and more excitement than at any
other time in its 12-year history. The event included a sold-out Top
Chef Dinner, a Mixology Competition, a Junior Chef Competition,
and the popular Top Chef Competition, as well as culinary work-
shops, local samplings from food artisans, restaurants, wineries and
breweries—and so much more. The weekend’s center point was the
Top Chef Competition where 12 local chefs competed for the 2018
Top Chef title. (Chef VanCampen earned his first Top Chef award
from the Ashland Culinary Festival, one of our youngest competitors
to date at age 23.)

The sold-out Ultimate Top Chef Dinner on Thursday featured famil-
iar names in food and beverage, too numerous to list, as was true
with events throughout the weekend. Friday night was an evening of
delicious bites, cocktail samples by local restaurants and wine sam-
2018 Top Chef Winners: Sous Chef, Josh Dorcak plings, while 12 bartenders took the stage for the Top Mixologist
and Top Chef Luke VanCampen of MÄS. Competition. Again, many familiar local establishments and indi-
Photo by Kari Young of @meatballssmama viduals took part. (Each round had a secret-ingredient requirement
for their final drink.)

On Saturday, the Festival held the Junior Chef Competition, the first
of its kind in Southern Oregon. A two-person Chef Team competed
from Ashland High School, Grants Pass High School, North Medford
High School and South Medford High School. Junior Chefs were
given a secret challenge, much like the Top Chef Competition. Watch
for some of these folks to cook your restaurant meals in the future.

The weekend continued with the Top Chef Competition and over 30
vendors to sample each day, including local wineries, chocolatiers,
creameries, food artisans, chefs, cooking products. Guests enjoyed
sampling throughout the room as the Top Chef Competition took
place live on stage.

The Ashland Emergency Food Bank received many donations from
attendees who received a ticket discount for donating two non-per-
ishable food items. This year’s Ashland Culinary Festival is slated for
November 7 – 10, 2019 at the Ashland Hills Hotel & Suites.
www.ashlandchamber.com

RIGHT: 2018 Junior Chef Winning Team: Bailey Goble (left)
and Kara Fisher (right), Seniors from South Medford High School
Photo by Kari Young of @Meatballssmama

30 www.southernoregonmagazine.com | winter 2019