John Cox, Ray Skradzinski, Oliver Sitrin, and Heather Dorris may not be names that trip off your tongue. But if history is any guide they will be big-name chefs in Dallas in the next few years. They were the four winners in this year’s Rising Star Chefs Contest: Heather Darris (Bolla), Oliver Sitrin (Marquee), Ray Skradzinski (Five-Sixty by Wolfgang Puck), and John Cox (Hyatt Regency) Former winners have included Andre Natera (now execuchef at The Pyramid Restaurant), J. Chastain (now sous chef at The Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek), Omar Flores (now execuchef at Driftwood) and Anthony Bombaci (now execuchef at Nana).
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This year’s winners presented their dishes to a banquet of paying customers at their awards dinner held as part of the 2012 Dallas Wine and Food Festival last night. The sold out event was held at in a packed dining room at the Nasher Sculpture Center. Emcee Gary Cogill introduced videos of each chef in action while guests dined on a meal prepared by the chefs consisting of each of their winning dishes plus a dessert from Wolfgang Puck Catering (who provide catering to The Nasher). Sponsors ‘d’Arenberg and and Lilikanoon provided the wine. For a full list of the many sponsors involved see here.
See the photo show below for the food in all its glory!
