Columbia area’s top chefs advance to World Food Championship

A team of six local chefs will represent the Columbia area in a World Food Championship event later this year.

The six were judged the best of the “Taste of Lake Murray” event by 600 people who attended the cooking competition at Columbia’s Hilton DoubleTree on Thursday.

Team Lake Murray Country will now travel to Dallas, Texas, for the “Ultimate Food Fight” the week of Nov. 5-9. There they will take on other top culinary artists from across the country. The top chefs will win $350,000.

The local winning chefs include:

▪ Kevin Schwab of Bistro on the Boulevard

▪ Henry Griffin of Griffin Chophouse

▪ Arif Rizvi of RF’s Corner Grill

▪ Brandon Velie of Juniper

▪ John Worthington of Figaro the Dining Room

▪ Jon Cooper of Alodia’s Cucina Italiana

In addition, World Food Championship CEO Mike McCloud named Eric Crissey of Columbo’s Restaurant as the “chairman’s choice,” meaning Crissey will serve as an alternate if any chef can’t compete in November.

In Dallas, the team will compete against cooks from 40 states and 10 countries in 10 food categories — bacon, barbecue, burger, chef, dessert, recipe, sandwich, seafood, soup and steak.

Thursday’s event was sponsored by the Capital City/Lake Murray Country Regional Tourism Board and raised money for the annual Fourth of July fireworks show on the lake.

“We’re excited to send our six talented chefs to the World Food Championship,” said Lake Murray Country President Miriam Atria. “This is an amazing opportunity for the Capital City/Lake Murray Country region and for the state of South Carolina. We are thrilled to bring South Carolina’s cuisine for the world to savor.”