Hy-Vee chef wins Supermarket Showdown with creative party platter

Hy-Vee Chef Elizabeth Davis is going to Italy. The chef took the grand prize at the Supermarket Chef Showdown at FMI Connect in Chicago. Davis won an all-expenses paid trip to Calabria to take a course at the Italian Culinary Institute.

Davis let out a yell of surprise after FMI CEO Leslie Sarasin announced she had won the prize and hugged Sarasin.

The Iowa chef competed in the holiday party platter category during the competition, preparing a “Yu Sheng” citrus salad platter for Chinese New Year.

Rick Stein, FMI’s VP of fresh foods, shared the judges’ observations of Davis’ dish: “So fresh and delicious, a fun interaction for parties, very inviting and a wonderful taste.”

After giving the category award to Davis, Stein added, “And this was quite the platter that Elizabeth had yesterday, with long chopsticks, sashimi, julienned vegetables and then asked the judges to sort of mix it up and have fun with it.”

Davis has a bachelor's degree in culinary arts from the Johnson & Wales University in Providence, R.I.

The category winners for the showdown include two other Hy-Vee chefs. Bryan Williams, a chef from Rockbridge Hy-Vee in Columbia, Mo., won the dessert category with his red curry and coconut bread pudding, and Amy Gleason a chef from Hy-Vee in Omaha, Neb., won the breakfast category with a cinnamon-scented faro parfait.

Jason Miller, corporate executive chef for Balducci’s Food Markets in Rockville, Md., was awarded the prize for the affordable family meal category for his corporate executive chef at Balducci’s Food Markets, for his turkey meatloaf “Provencal” with sweet potato hash and arugula salad.

Dustin Miller, chef at Giant Eagle Market District, won the ethnic meal category with his Korean-braised short rib dish.

Fifteen finalists came to the show to compete. The category winners each won a $1,000.

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