January 11, 2008

‘Impress the chef’ with your favorite Italian specialty dish

Prizes include $5,000 shopping spree

South Bay home cooks with a passion for Italian cooking are invited to participate in “Impress the Chef,” a culinary contest taking place at all northern California Pomodoro/Pasta Pomodoro restaurants. (Pasta Pom-odoro’s name change to Pomodoro is happening throughout 2008.)

Pomodoro owner and chef Adriano Paganini invites participants to provide a written story describing their favorite home-cooked Italian specialty dish and to explain why it is so special to them. Entries must be received by Friday, Jan. 25, 2008. The descriptions can be dropped off at contestants’ local Pasta Pomodoro restaurants (Santana Row, Cam-den Park, Milpitas, Sunnyvale, Evergreen and The Alameda). Online entries are also welcome at www.pastapomodoro.com.

From each of the 28 northern California Pomodoro restaurants, five local winners will be selected based on their written descriptions. Those contestants will be invited to bring a sample of their dish to a regional event in February (dates and locations are below). There, the entries will be judged on the basis of taste, presentation, originality and the story about the dish. Contestants do not have to disclose any closely guarded recipes, and must be willing to be videotaped and photographed during the regional semifinals and finals for use in the media.

The grand prize is a $5,000 shopping spree at the winner’s favorite store. Four winning regional finalists will each receive a prize of a “Pomodoro Dinner Party for up to 25 Family and Friends” (a $590 value). The 28 first-prize winners from each restaurant will win $250 Pomodoro gift certificates, while the other four local winners from each restaurant will receive $25 Pomodoro gift certificates.

“Impress the Chef” regional semifinals will take place at the following location:

Saturday, Feb. 23, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Pasta Pomodoro, 378 Santana Row, San Jose, CA 95128. (408) 241-2200
The finals, to be held Mar. 8, will be held at a Pomodoro location to be announced. The four finalists – one selected from each regional semifinal – will have one hour to prepare their Italian specialty dish, with the help of a chef assistant. If the dish takes more than an hour, they will be able to prepare some of it in advance.