GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo.,
Feb. 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/
-- America's most prestigious burger competition brought some
YUMMM-y menu innovation with the presentation of Red Robin's
first-ever Best of the Bash Award at the Food Network South Beach
Wine & Food Festival's Amstel Light Burger Bash. Chefs Laurent
Tourondel, Andrew Buffalino and
Jedd Adair of LT Burger in the
Harbor in Sag Harbor, New York
dished up deliciousness with their Smashed Smoke Burger, featuring
a craveable combination of black peppered bacon, New York State cheddar, Spanish onion, and
sweet sauce.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120522/NY11686LOGO
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All chefs participating in the Amstel Light Burger Bash
presented by Pat LaFrieda Meats hosted by Rachael Ray in Miami,
Fla. on Feb. 22 were invited
to submit their burger recipe to Red Robin for the chance to win
$10,000 and an appearance on the
Gourmet Burger Expert's menu.
Mo Rocca, host of Cooking
Channel's My Grandmother's Ravioli and correspondent for
CBS Sunday Morning with
Charles Osgood, along with
Denny Marie Post, chief menu &
marketing officer for Red Robin, and Scott
Weaver, the brand's director of culinary, tasted, judged and
selected the Smashed Smoke Burger as Red Robin's Best of the Bash
based on criteria such as creativity, taste and
presentation.
"Tasting a dozen burgers in the running for Red Robin's Best of
the Bash Award was no easy task," said Best of the Bash judge,
Mo Rocca. "I thought the chefs
participating in the Amstel Light Burger Bash had the tough job,
but I had my work cut out for me in having to help choose a
winner!"
"The Smashed Smoke Burger had all of the notes of a perfectly
prepared burger," said Chef Scott
Weaver, Red Robin's director of culinary. "It was a
savory combination of sweet and smoky flavors balanced with great
texture from the cheese and peppery bacon."
In addition to the cash prize, the Smashed Smoke Burger will be
served in more than 465 Red Robin® restaurants in the
U.S. and Canada as a
limited-time-offer as part of Red Robin's premium burger line.
Designed to satisfy the cravings of America's top-notch burger
fans, the chef-crafted burgers will use premium proteins stacked on
an artisan bun with high-quality toppings such as roasted tomatoes,
artisan cheeses and premium sauces and aiolis prepared in-house.
The high-end burgers will be priced in line with Red Robin's entree
offerings and served with a choice of two sides including Red
Robin's signature Bottomless Steak Fries®, which means
free refills.
"We see the burger as a great canvas for innovation, and the
chefs who shared their original burgers with us at the event are
further proof of that," said Denny Marie
Post, Red Robin's senior vice president and chief menu &
marketing officer. "As the gourmet burger leader, Red Robin
has been making great burgers for over forty years and we're
excited to continue to give our guests what they crave with the
premium burger line."
In addition to presenting the Best of the Bash Award, Red Robin
served the winning burger from the Red Robin Savory Scholar Contest
at the event. Beginning Jan.
10, Red Robin invited students from the Florida International University (FIU) Chaplin
School of Hospitality & Tourism Management, the beneficiary of
all proceeds from the Food Network South Beach Wine & Food
Festival presented by FOOD & WINE, to submit their original
burger recipes for consideration for the award.
Luciana Page was selected from
among more than one hundred entries for her Korean Kalbi BBQ
Burger, a unique blend of spicy and tangy authentic Korean flavors
including pickled cucumbers and cabbage on a Korean BBQ glazed beef
patty on a Brioche bun. In addition to the opportunity to
serve her winning burger at the Amstel Light Burger Bash, Page also
won a $10,000 scholarship and a
three-month internship at Yummm U, Red Robin's research &
development and culinary facility located near Denver, Colo. The Korean Kalbi BBQ
Burger could potentially make its debut on the Red Robin menu as
part of its Red's Tavern Double™ Style burger platform in 2013.
Page will graduate from FIU with a bachelor's of science in
hospitality management which prepares her to succeed as a leader in
today's competitive business environment.
For more information about Red Robin and to find a restaurant
location near you, visit www.redrobin.com.
About Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc. (NASDAQ:
RRGB)
Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc. (www.redrobin.com), a
casual dining restaurant chain founded in 1969 that operates
through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Red Robin International, Inc.,
is the gourmet burger expert, famous for serving more than two
dozen craveable, high-quality burgers with Bottomless Steak
Fries® in a fun environment welcoming to guests of all
ages. In addition to its many burger offerings, Red Robin
serves a wide variety of salads, soups, appetizers, entrees,
desserts and signature Mad Mixology®
Beverages. There currently are 473 Red Robin locations across
the United States and Canada, including 335 company-owned Red
Robin® restaurants and five Red Robin's Burger
Works® locations, and 133 Red Robin®
restaurants operating under franchise agreements. Red Robin…
YUMMM®! Connect with Red Robin on Facebook and
Twitter.
About Mo
Rocca
Mo Rocca, host
of Cooking Channel's My Grandmother's Ravioli, is best known
for his off-beat news reports and satirical commentary.
Currently a Correspondent for CBS Sunday Morning with
Charles Osgood, he's also a
panelist on NPR's hit weekly quiz show Wait, Wait...Don't Tell
Me! and the host of Food(ography) on the Cooking
Channel. Mo spent four seasons on Comedy Central's Daily
Show with Jon Stewart. On
Broadway he starred in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling
Bee. A native of Washington,
D.C., Mo earned a bachelor's degree at Harvard and resides in New York City.
About the Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism
Management
Florida International
University's Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism
Management has been distinguished as one of the top hospitality
programs in the U.S. Each year more than 1,400 undergraduate
and graduate students from across the
United States and around the world choose FIU for its
outstanding reputation, advantageous campus locations, expert
faculty, rich curriculum, and fast-track career advantages in the
international hotel, foodservice and tourism industries. In
August 2006, FIU unveiled the first
U.S. School of Hospitality and Tourism in Tianjin, China. The Marriott Tianjin China
Program is FIU's largest international program, with a capacity for
up to 2,000 students. For more information about Florida International University's School of
Hospitality and Tourism Management, visit
http://hospitality.fiu.edu.
SOURCE Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc.