General Mills Foodservice shines the spotlight on six restaurants from across the country with its announcement of the Category Finalists in the 2nd Annual Neighborhood to Nation™ Recipe Contest, which celebrates independent family or “neighborhood” restaurants and their one-of-a-kind dishes that reflect their local flavor. Of these six finalists, three will be named Recipe Winners and travel to General Mills’ headquarters in Minneapolis on June 21-22 for a day of celebration and inspiration with Amanda Freitag of Food Network’s “Chopped” and “American Diner Revival” and the official Grand Prize winner announcement.
While the announcement of the three Recipe Winners takes place on June 8, following are the six finalists in the running who represent the top two recipe entries in the categories of Breakfast, Entrée or Dessert:
Breakfast Category Finalists
- Eileen Randman, Café at the Corner (Hapeville, Georgia): Quiche de Fromage
- Christina Halstead, Café @ Williams Hardware (Travelers Rest, South Carolina): BLT on Pimento Cheese Buttermilk Biscuit with Red Pepper Jelly
Entrée Category Finalists
- Yoshiharu Sogi, The Zina Lounge (Sonoma, California): Seared Salmon Millefeuille with Bacon Mushroom Filling and Fresh Herbed Butter Sauce
- Dan Duris, Gypsy Café (Lincoln, New Hampshire): Waffled Salmon with Spicy Orange Maple Sauce
Dessert Category Finalists
- Donal Clark, Miller’s Seawall Grill (Galveston, Texas): Italian Cream Cheese Cake with Amaretto Orange Peel
- Nancy Butcher, Nutcracker 50’s Family Restaurant (Pataskala, Ohio): Chocolate Snickers™ Candy Bar Cookie Pie
“Our judges were overwhelmed with the quality of recipes we received in this second year of Neighborhood to Nation,” said Melody Chang, senior associate channel manager of General Mills Foodservice. “These six category finalists truly brought their talent to the table with recipes that reflect their local flavors and are deserving of national attention. We eagerly anticipate the next phase of the contest to find out who advances for a chance to win the $50,000 grand prize package.”
Recipes for the Neighborhood to Nation Recipes Contest were judged based on taste, appearance, creativity and foodservice viability. During the selection of the Grand Prize Recipe winner, judges will score each Category Winner recipe. The three with the highest scores from each category (Breakfast, Entrée and Dessert) will move on to become finalists (to be announced on June 8) and travel to Minneapolis for the Grand Prize Winner announcement (June 22) and finale festivities.
The Neighborhood to Nation Recipe Contest was open to foodservice operators, chefs and line cooks who develop and prepare recipes for menu items served at independent, commercial restaurants, and asks them to submit an original recipe using at least one ingredient from General Mills’ list of eligible products. The Grand Prize Recipe Winner will receive $40,000 as well as a $10,000 donation for a local charity. The First Place Recipe Winner will receive $15,000, and the Second Place Recipe Winner will receive $10,000.
Neighborhood to Nation was created to inspire culinary creativity among independent restaurants, giving operators an opportunity to experiment with high quality and consistent products from General Mills Foodservice as well as exclusive access to trend information, insights and ideas to help them differentiate their menus and delight their diners. For more information on Neighborhood to Nation, the finalists, the finale celebration and the announcement of the Grand Prize winner, please visit www.NeighborhoodtoNation.com.