On Sunday, June 9, 2013, the Jersey City Food Co-Operative (JCFC) will stage its yearly fundraising event, the JC FOOD CO-OP CHEF SHOWDOWN, wherein local chefs will battle it out for local bragging rights and the coveted JCFC CHEF SHOWDOWN prize at the Barrow Mansion at 83 Wayne Street, Jersey City, NJ.

THE MAIN EVENT

The competition pairs the culinary talents of a select group of Jersey City chefs, with seasonal ingredients, made available through the JCFC. The cheftestants are given a secret farm-fresh ingredient, delivered and revealed just days before the competition, to craft a mouth-watering dish of their choosing to share with a jury panel and event participants. A local “celebrity” panel of judges will confer and rate the dishes to choose the JCFC CHEF SHOWDOWN champion, while event attendees will vote and select the recipient of the “people’s choice” award.

The event, MC’d by “Dancing Tony” Susco will also feature local craft beer, a tricky tray and silent auction and of course, knocking down pins in the mansion’s antique manually-operated bowling alley. Event sponsors include the Barrow Mansion, Rock-it Docket and Jersey City Medical Center, so far.

LAST YEAR’S EVENT

For our inaugural event, the SHOWDOWN’s champion was Chef Michael Colletti of VB3 with his delicate but savory mushroom crepe, while Chef Celeste Governanti took the people’s choice award for her hearty mushroom quiche. 150 gourmands crowded the event hall at St. Paul’s in the five corners neighborhood on Hoboken Avenue to sample food from Chef Michael, Chef Celeste and the fantastic chefs at Taj Mahal Romance in Dining and Chef Phil of the Restaurant Marketing Associates. Beer was pulled by the staff of Skinner’s Loft and additional food was provided by Jerkin’ Chicken from West Side Avenue. After one year, we’ve already out-grown our event space and are taking down to the mansion.

TICKET PURCHASING

Tickets are on sale at brownpapertickets.com!  $30 in Advance and $40 at the door.  Admission price includes food.  Cash, credit and debit accepted on-site for beer, bowling, tricky tray and silent auction.

Go on and support the JCFC, your local connection to a sustainable food system, all while getting your serious nosh on by some professional chefs with organic ingredients.

Come join us at Tachair Bookshoppe (260 Newark Ave, Jersey City) on Tuesday, June 25th, as we discuss Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally by Alisa Smith and J.B. Mackinnon. We’ll have a discussion on not only our own adventures eating locally, but seasonally! Feel free to bring in your own recipes for those delicious vegetables you can only get now, right here in NJ! 

Our book club is free and open to anyone interested in engaging in great discussions on food……. from politics to preparation!

For more information, visit our book club blog: http://jcfoodcoopbookclub.wordpress.com

Come join us at Tachair Bookshoppe (260 Newark Ave, Jersey City) on Tuesday, May 14th, as we discuss Sandor Ellix Katz’s book, The Revolution Will Not be Microwaved: Inside America’s Underground Food Movements. 

We will also have a bonus discussion on how to make homemade kombucha with Jersey City-based Holistic Health Coach Sazzu Hope of www.fullyvibrant.com.  

Our book club is free and open to anyone interested in engaging in great discussions on food……. from politics to preparation!

For more information, visit our book club blog: http://jcfoodcoopbookclub.wordpress.com

Our book club is free and open to anyone interested in engaging in great discussions on food……. from politics to preparation! For more information, visit our book club blog.

We will also have a bonus discussion on “putting food by” as Kingsolver calls it-–i.e. preserving. There will be a discussion/presentation on how to extend tomato season through canning, freeze peas and other vegetables, etc. Recipes and other resources will be shared!