Bite Club Throwdown Crowns Yakima Chef an Entry to World Food Championships

Plates of Chocolate Lava Cake from Chef David at Bite Club Yakima Throwdown
Reesha Cosby
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THE FIRST RULE OF BITE CLUB IS...

The first rule of Bite Club is "Don't talk about Bite Club!", but if I did that then I wouldn't be able to tell you about the amazing Bite Club Throwdown food competition that happened in Yakima last week! The event was held at Eats & Elixirs, which is one of the local Yakima restaurants that I put on my "year-round" list of of favorite places to eat. The Bite Club Throwdown competition, created by local celebrity chef, Shawn Niles, pitted two superb Yakima chefs whom many would say are the creme de la creme against a Gordon Ramsay Masterchef finalist! Which one of these chefs won a coveted entry spot into the World Food Championships being held in November 2022?

WHAT IS BITE CLUB?

Before I reveal the winner, let me tell you some more about Bite Club! I know, I'm not supposed to be talking about it, I get that. If you are a huge fine dining foodie, however, then you'll want to be a member of Bite Club Yakima! It is an exclusive membership to private dinners with menus curated by some of the best fine dining chefs in the Yakima Valley. Some of the proceeds of this venture from The Fat Pastor helps to fund Urban Kitchen Yakima, an immersive culinary training program for Yakima Valley youths. Bite Club and Urban Kitchen are managed by a team of brilliant chefs and savvy industry experts including Shawn Niles, Chef Gilbert Kalombo, Julie Kirchhoff, Tenielle Niles, Beth Kalombo, Jacob Niles, and Dawn Amazzalorso.

WHAT DISHES DID THE CHEFS MAKE AT THE BITE CLUB THROWDOWN?

The Bite Club Throwdown menu had me trying Black Bear Barbacoa, a rhubarb cake topped with compressed strawberries and among other delicios ingredients a Vanilla Bean Chantilly Cream, Elk & Morel Sopes, Duck Rillets with Orange Chutney, and a whole assortment of decadent cuisine that would be on par with anything on the Masterchef TV show on Fox!

WHO WERE THE BITE CLUB THROWDOWN JUDGES?

Oh yes, I guess I should have said so earlier, I was blessed to be asked to be one of the three judges for this foodie competition! (Judges included Alexis Sells, winemaker at Fortuity Cellars, and Tammy Hoffert, a prominent Yakima chef and restauranteur in her own right, who also will be a contestant in the World Food Championships this year!)

WHO WON THE BITE CLUB THROWDOWN?

The winner of this edition of the Yakima Bite Club Throwdown was Chef Caitlin "Cate" Meade (Season 7, 8, and the current season 12 of Masterchef)! She won a $1,000 prize for winning by ONE point! Chef Oscar Sanchez was the runner up and he, too, was given a spot to compete in the World Food Championships! This means that we will have TWO local chefs representing the Yakima Valley at one of the globe's biggest food competitions! Congratulations to Chefs Oscar and Cate for winning and a special congratulations to Chef David Muniz for also serving some of the best dishes at the Bite Club Throwdown competition!

Check out some of my pics of a few of the dishes from my seat at the judges' table!

BITE CLUB THROWDOWN: Yakima, WA at Eats & Elixirs, May 26, 2022

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