Three advance in Hannaford’s ‘Home Chef Challenge with Mario Batali’

Courtesy / Mario Batali Mario Batali stars in "The Chew," a daytime talk show on ABC that celebrates and explores life through food and airs weekdays at 1 p.m. EST on ABC. Three Mainers have been named semifinalists in a "Home chef challenge with Mario Batali" sponsored by Hannaford Supermarkets. One of them will get the chance to advance in the competition to win the grand prize of meeting Batali in New York City.

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Hannaford Supermarkets and celebrity chef Mario Batali have selected three Portland regional semi-finalists in the Mario Batali Home Chef Challenge, a unique recipe contest designed to celebrate home chefs and their cooking inspirations.

Each semi-finalist will be vying for the grand prize of an all-expenses paid trip for two to New York City to attend a taping of ABC’s “The Chew,” meet Mario Batali and have dinner at one of his acclaimed restaurants. The first-prize winner will receive a $1,000 Hannaford gift card. The second-prize winner will receive a $500 gift card.

The three semi-finalists are:

Stephanie Dolan of Auburn, preparing “Dad’s Lobster Carbonara.”
William Doukas of Portland, preparing “Moroccan Chicken.”
Leslie Fillnow of Camden, preparing “Farfalle with Pesto and Scallops.”

The semi-finalists were chosen based on their submission of a favorite, original recipe, their inspirational story about the recipe, and how the recipe can excite others about cooking at home.

“Hannaford is ecstatic to partner with Chef Mario Batali, a culinary visionary who shares our passion for food, home cooking and hunger relief,” Hannaford President Mike Vail said in a news release. We congratulate each of the semi-finalists on their delicious recipes, which really exemplify the joy of home cooking, and the inspirations surrounding culinary creations.”

Each Portland semi-finalist will compete in a tasting event at O’Maine Studios in Portland on Wednesday, Dec. 6, during which they will prepare and present their recipe to a panel of local judges.

The panel includes Channel 8 WMTW anchor Cristina Frank; Bangor Daily News writer and author of The 207 Foodie blog Sarah Gelber; and Q 97.9 FM on-air personality Lori Voornas.

Identical events will occur in Burlington, Vt., and Albany, N.Y.

One finalist will be determined at each location and Batali will select the grand-prize winner from the three finalists.

Based in Scarborough, Hannaford Supermarkets operates 181 stores in Maine, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. It has more than 27,000 employees.

About Mario Batali

Mario Batali is a chef with 25 restaurants, 11 cookbooks, numerous television shows and six Eataly marketplaces to his credit. www.mariobatali.com

In February 2016, he opened La Sirena Ristorante, offering two distinct dining experiences on the plaza level of New York City’s Maritime Hotel in Chelsea. In the barroom is the Tapas Bar where guests enjoy a food menu of small plates that pair well with cocktails and wine. In the more formal main dining room, La Sirena offers a Michelin-starred menu representative of the entire Italian peninsula.

His 11 cookbooks include the James Beard award-winning “Molto Italiano: 327 Simple Italian Recipes (2005) and “Big American Cookbook” (2016), which features 250 simple and delicious recipes from San Diego fish tacos to Boston cream pie.

Batali appears daily on ABC’s “The Chew,” the Emmy award-winning daytime talk show on ABC that celebrates and explores life through food.