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Iron Chefs, Rebellious Chefs, Island Chefs Support
St. Croix Food & Wine Experience
Tim Love, Kevin Rathbun, Gabriel
Rucker, Roberto Treviño to Judge Island Wide Competition, Prepare Fundraising
Dinners and Face-Off in Fun Competition
 Participating celebrated chefs for the 2010 St. Croix Food & Wine Experience include:
Tim Love Ft.
Worth, Texas
Tim Love has become a nationally recognized culinary
personality. He has appeared on Paula Deen, Rachael Ray, on Top Chef
Masters, and Iron Chef America. As chef/owner of The Lonesome Dove Western
Bistro and The Love Shack in Fort Worth, his innovative dishes have earned
critical and popular acclaim. The Love Shack earned three stars from The
Dallas Morning News,
being singled out as having the "most perfect burger on the planet"
by The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and was named by Condé Nast Traveler as a 2008 Hot List restaurant.
Kevin Rathbun Atlanta,
Georgia
Chef Kevin Rathbun is the award-winning visionary owner of
three of Atlanta's acclaimed restaurants Rathbun's, Krog Bar, and Kevin
Rathbun Steak. Nicknamed the "Sultan of Steak" by the Atlanta
Journal Constitution,
Rathbun was selected as the 2007 Rising Star Chef and he and his brother, Chef
Kent Rathbun, took down Bobby Flay on Food Network's "Iron Chef." Rathbun, a
supporter of the NFL's Taste of the NFL charity, has worked with celebrity
chefs and restaurateurs such as Bradley Ogden, Emeril Lagasse, Stephen Pyles, Ella
Brennan and Pano Karratossos, is a native of Kansas City, Missouri.
Gabriel Rucker Portland,
Oregon
Gabriel Rucker, the chef/owner of Le Pigeon in Portland,
which he opened in 2006 at the age of 25, is rebellious with his bistro
offerings and the "darling of the culinary world." A self-taught cook, Rucker
has won multiple awards, including Food & Wine magazine's Best New Chefs of 2007, Portland
Monthly's Chef of the Year 2006, The Oregonian's Rising Star
Chef 2006, Restaurant and Hospitality Magazine's Rising Star of
2007. He earned a nomination for the James Beard "Rising Star" award
in 2009 and he has been selected as a Food Ambassador for the state of Oregon. Men's
Journal magazine
selected him as a chef-model for the October 2009 issue. With all the acclaim,
Rucker remains truly modest, states "No chef does it alone."
Roberto Treviño Puerto
Rico
As a contender in Food Network's Iron Chef America, Roberto Treviño, a leader in Nuevo
Latino cuisine, exhibited his talents as he battled Mario Batali. His warmth and charm
along with his skilful Asian fusion can be experienced at Budatai, his
restaurant in Puerto Rico. Chef
Treviño has been featured in Condé Nast Traveler, Coastal Living, The New York Times, Bon Appétit and Gourmet. He has been honored to cook a
dinner at the James Beard House in New York, and at their awards events.
Each guest
chef will be guest judge at Taste of St. Croix, the island's culinary
competition, will each host a Cork & Fork dinner, intimate fundraising
dinners paired with a top winery, and will face-off in a friendly competition
with local island chefs.
Tickets to
the St. Croix Food & Wine Experience go on sale in March 2010 and will be
available at www.StCroixFoodandWine.com.
Patrons wanting access to all events can purchase the "Platinum Patron" package
for $5000, which includes two tickets to each event and a choice of one Cork
& Fork dinner. Sponsorship packages are also available. For more
information on sponsorship opportunities or Patron packages, please contact
Roger Dewey at 340-773-9898.
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About
the St. Croix Food & Wine Experience
The St.
Croix Food & Wine Experience, named one on the Ten Best International Food
and Wine Festivals by Forbes Travel, showcases the diverse cuisine and
wine available on St. Croix, US Virgin Islands. The multi-day event includes
gourmet dinners, wine seminars, wine auctions, and the annual culinary
competition, A Taste of St. Croix. The event benefits the St. Croix Foundation
(www.stxfoundation.org), a non-profit community foundation that administers a
number of local programs. The event was started in 2001 by restaurant owners
Katherine Pugliese of Eat@CaneBay, and Kelly Odom of Tutto Bene, and is
recognized as the pre-eminent food and wine event in the Caribbean. For more
information visit www.stcroixfoodandwine.com
or www.tasteofstcroix.com.
Past participating vintners have included Chris Benziger of Benziger Wineries, Bill Blais of Kendall Jackson Estates, Bo b Foley from Foley Wines, Paul Hoffman of
Medusa Wines, Julianna Martinelli of Martinelli Vineyards, Joel Peterson from Ravenswood, Maria Ponzi of Ponzi Vineyards, Carroll Kemp of Red Car
Wines, and Kent Rosenblum from Rosenblum Cellars. Guest chefs have included
Rocco DiSpirito (in photo), Antonia Lofaso, Kevin Rathbun, Robbin Haas, Gerry Klaskala, Wayne Nish, Richard
Reddington and Johnny Vinczencz.
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About The St. Croix Foundation
Proceeds
from The St. Croix Food & Wine Experience are donated to The St. Croix
Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on community revitalization,
economic development, youth programs, education and additional needs in the
community. The culinary event has raised more than $750,000 for The St. Croix
Foundation over the past nine years. For more information visit www.stxfoundation.org.
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Media Contacts:
Jane Watkins
St. Croix Food & Wine Experience
jane@watkinspr.com
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