SANTÉ ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF 2005 KORBEL BRANDY COCKTAIL COMPETITION
November 28, 2005-Santé magazine announces the winners of the "Shake Up a Winner" 2005 Korbel Brandy Cocktail Competition.
Co-presented by Santé, the Magazine for Restaurant Professionals, and Korbel Brandy, the 2005 Korbel Brandy Cocktail Competition challenged bar professionals to invent creative and delectable cocktail recipes using Korbel Brandy as the key ingredient.
Entries for the competition were judged by Tony Abou-Ganim, proprietor of the Modern Mixologist, Las Vegas; John C. Burton of The Bartenders' School of Santa Rosa, California; and Michael Waterhouse of Dylan Prime, New York City. Each of the judges skillfully recreated the competing recipes before scoring them on creativity (worth 50% of the final score), taste (25%), and presentation (25%) to determine the following winners:
Grand Prize
"Yellow Trumpet," submitted by Ektoras Binikos, head bartender at
Aureole Restaurant in New York City.
First Place
"Fleur d'Apry," submitted by Drew Levinson, beverage manager at
the Bellagio Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.
Second Place
"Asian Spice Ginger Fizz," submitted by Jennifer Wayland, pastry chef at the Roxiticus Golf Club in Mendham, New Jersey.
Runners-Up
"The Ruby Slipper," submitted by Lynette Sumner, restaurant manager at the Left Bank Restaurant in Duck, North Carolina.
"Korbel of the Ball," submitted by Erin Vonfeldt, bar manager at
Bordinos Restaurant & Martini Bar in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
"California Style," submitted by Ray Srp, bartender at Club Privé in
the Bellagio Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.
The Grand Prize, First Place, and Second Place winners will each receive an elegant plaque to be displayed in their establishment. All six winners will receive prize money and will be featured along with their recipes in the January/February 2006 issue of Santé.
Carefully distilled according to traditional methods, Korbel Brandy is made from the highest-quality California grapes and aged in premium American oak barrels. It is then meticulously blended and bottled by people passionate about handcrafting the finest American brandy.
Founded by Mark Vaughan and Chris Costello in 1996, Santé is published by On-Premise Communications, Inc., in Bennington, Vermont. Now in its ninth year of publication, the magazine reaches 55,000 upscale casual to fine-dining establishments in all 50 states. More than 200,000 restaurant professionals read each of the magazine's nine issues per year.
Chef2Chef News Desk