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.
