GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo.,
Feb. 5, 2014 /PRNewswire/
-- Derrick Deal is celebrating the opportunity of a lifetime
thanks to Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc. (NASDAQ: RRGB). The
senior at Florida International
University's (FIU) Chaplin School of Hospitality &
Tourism Management was declared the winner of Red Robin's Golden
Robin Contest. Deal's winning recipe earned him a $10,000 scholarship and the chance for his
Bubblin' Brown Sugar Bar-B-Que Burger to be featured as a
limited-time menu offering at participating Red Robin® restaurants
nationwide in the future. In addition, Deal will join Red Robin at
the Amstel Light Burger Bash during the 8th Annual Food
Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival presented by FOOD
& WINE magazine on Friday, Feb.
21, where he will have the opportunity to serve his
pub-inspired gourmet burger creation alongside celebrity chef
Robert Irvine, host of Food
Network's Restaurant: Impossible.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120522/NY11686LOGO
)
"As the gourmet burger experts, it is our mission to constantly
provide cutting edge burger offerings to our guests," said
John Schaufelberger, Red Robin's
Vice President of Brand Marketing. "In our latest quest to find the
most innovative burger recipe, we are proud to have collaborated
with the dynamic and brilliant students at FIU, like Derrick, and
we are delighted to serve his winning creation at the Amstel Light
Burger Bash."
Deal's victory comes as a result of an ongoing partnership
between Red Robin and the Food Network South Beach Wine & Food
Festival and FIU's Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism
Management, one of the highest rated hospitality and tourism
programs in the United States. For
this year's Festival, Red Robin, the Gourmet Burger Authority™,
challenged FIU students to submit a recipe for their best rendition
of a tavern-style burger for a chance to win Red Robin's Golden
Robin Contest. All 140 recipes that the students submitted were
carefully judged based on creativity, taste and use of unique
ingredients, and the Bubblin' Brown Sugar Bar-B-Que Burger emerged
as the winner for its unique combination of brown sugar bacon,
Heinz® Honey Barbeque Sauce, sharp cheddar cheese and grilled red
onions.
"We are pleased that Red Robin provided our students with a
platform to demonstrate their innovation and creativity, as they
prepare to become the future leaders of the industry," said
Mike Hampton, Dean of Chaplin School
of Hospitality& Tourism Management at FIU.
The Amstel Light Burger Bash is America's most prestigious
burger competition, which brings together the country's top
culinary maestros and chefs, giving them the opportunity to display
their creations and battle it out for burger supremacy. For the
second year in a row, Red Robin has invited all chefs participating
in the Amstel Light Burger Bash to submit their burger recipe for a
chance to win $10,000 and to have
their recipe featured on Red Robin's Finest premium burger menu
later this year. A panel of carefully selected judges, including
Chef Irvine and Red Robin executives, will select and present the
winning chef with "Red Robin's Best of the Bash Award" on the
Burger Bash® stage on Friday, Feb.
21.
"I am honored to be part of the Red Robin judges panel and
sample some of my fellow chef's most innovative and mouthwatering
burgers," said Robert Irvine,
celebrity chef and host of Food Network's Restaurant:
Impossible. "Judging a competition with so much talent can be
difficult. Luckily, I enjoy burgers and will be looking for
technique, use of unique ingredients and creative presentation when
choosing the winning recipe worthy of being awarded as the Best of
the Bash."
For more information about Red Robin and to find a Red Robin®
restaurant 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 Authority™, 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 are more
than 490 Red Robin restaurants across the
United States and Canada,
including those operating under franchise agreements. Red
Robin… YUMMM®! Connect with Red Robin on Facebook and
Twitter.
About Robert
Irvine
With more than 25 years in the culinary
profession, there aren't many places Chef Robert Irvine hasn't cooked or challenges he
hasn't had to cook his way out of. During his time in the British
Royal Navy and in the years that followed, Robert has cooked his
way through Europe, the Far East,
the Caribbean and the Americas, in
hotels, on the high seas and even for the Academy Awards; and that
was before his career in TV.
As the host of one of the Food Network's highest rated shows,
Restaurant: Impossible, Robert is best known for saving
struggling restaurants across America by assessing and overhauling
the restaurant's weakest spots. In 2013, Robert added a new
challenge to his resume as he mentored and challenged aspiring
chefs as the host of Restaurant Express, a new show on the
Food Network.
Going on its third year, Robert continues to tour his live show,
Robert Irvine LIVE, across the US. Robert also operates two
restaurants in South Carolina,
Robert Irvine's Eat and Robert Irvine's Nosh, and is the author of two
cookbooks, Mission: Cook! and Impossible to Easy.
Robert was previously the host of Food Network's Dinner:
Impossible and Worst Cooks in America.
Visit www.ChefIrvine.com to learn more about Robert Irvine, his TV shows, live shows and
restaurants.
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.