Top Chefs Will Battle In Sacramento

Aug. 3, 2010 - PRLog -- Four professional and award winning chefs from around the Sacramento Valley will compete on stage in the SMASHED banana challenge at the 2010 Banana Festival. SMASHED will be styled after the Food Network’s show CHOPPED, where the chefs will avoid elimination by creating a three course meal out of a bag of mystery ingredients, except this challenge will also have a mystery banana variety.

Hosted by Michael Marks aka “Your Produce Man,” the SMASHED competition will take place on Saturday August 14th with the first round beginning at 12 noon. To claim the grand prize of $300, the winning chef will have to wow the celebrity judges with an appetizer, entrée, and dessert.

The four competing chefs are Sous Chef Paul Davis from the Delta King Hotel, Chef Booker T. Pannell of Booker T. Catering, Chef Instructor Kuulei Moreno of Wheatland High School, and Chef Quentin Bennett of Chef Q for Hire.

For Sacramento residents with a baking knack, the Banana Bake-Off competition will be a chance to shine. Contestants can submit their tasty banana treats for a chance to be awarded “Sacramento’s Best” in one of seven categories, including Banana Bread, Pies and Cakes. The Banana Bake-Off judging begins at 6:00 p.m. on Friday August 13th.

If you love bananas, you will love the food selection at the Banana Festival. All weekend, festival attendees will enjoy a wide range of banana foods and desserts originating from cultures all over the world. These include breads, pudding, chips, lumpia, tea cakes, ice cream, pies, tropical drinks and smoothies, as well as chocolate dipped bananas, Tostones, and much more.

The Banana Festival is presented by the National Academic Youth Corps and the Sojourner Truth Multicultural Art Museum, with the mission to provide an opportunity for the community to come together and experience the many cultures represented in the Sacramento region a positive and fun environment. More information about the Banana Festival, the Banana Jungle and the contests can be found at www.bananafest.org.

The following are brief bios of the competing chefs.

Michael Marks shares his interesting facts and tips about produce with over 80 million viewers a month in grocery stores across the nation and on Sacramento’s CBS13. But only at the Banana Festival will you get to see “the most quoted man in produce” preside over a spirited, winner-takes-all chef challenge.


Chef Paul Davis began working in the culinary field at the age of 14 at Fitzy Willy in Bridgeport, CT. A graduate of the Cordon Bleu Culinary School in San Francisco and the Sous Chef at the Delta King in Old Sacramento, Chef Paul has a wide range of food talents. His dream is to open a restaurant specializing in diabetic cuisine.


Chef Booker T. Pannell began his culinary journey at age 15 as a dishwasher in Sacramento’s Capital Tamale Café, and has since worked at a variety of gourmet restaurants. He has received awards by Chefs for UNCF, Kids and Excellence Food Tasting, and at the Berkley Crush Festival to name a few.


Chef Kuulei Moreno is the culinary instructor and Head Chef at Wheatland High School. A Wheatland High alumna, Chef Kuulei now shares her skills and knowledge with the youth and serves over 500 meals a day. Under her guidance, students from Wheatland High School have won multiple culinary competitions over the past few years.


Chef Quentin Bennett gained much of his culinary experience serving in the U.S. Military. Chef Q’s travels introduced him to various parts of the world; he often would spend weeks and months in top restaurants, broadening his culinary skills. His is grounded in French, Asian and Californian techniques and has had the privilege of serving a president of the United States.

For pictures of the chefs, please see the PDF press release at http://www.bananafestival.sojoarts.net/press.htm

# # #

Join us for a weekend full of music, food, art, dance, films, and family fun.
Oh, and most important of all, BANANAS! August 13th - 15th, 2010 at Consumnes River College in sunny Sacramento, CA.