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The American Culinary Federation Chef’s Association of Arizona Presents The:

Sponsored By

KP Culinary; Todds, A Division of H.J. Heinz; Holsum Bread;

Barefoot Wine and Bubbly; and Food Sales West

Join us for a Spaghetti Dinner while we watch some of the hottest Valley Chefs vie for

Meatball Hall of Fame!

Your winners are...

Success for FATAZZ!

By Heidi K. Lee

The ACFAZ FATAZZ Meatball Cook-Off was a phenomenal success! Laurie Vacha was awarded the FATAZZ CHEF trophy for her meatball entry, Goodness, Gracious, Great Balls of Fire. Vacha set the bar high with her Certified Angus Beef Ground Chuck meatballs nestled in a roasted Anaheim Chile on a bed of green chile mashed potatoes, served over a fresh tomato-bell pepper puree and garnished with crumbled goat cheese.

The competition was stiff but judges concurred with high scores for Vacha on all 4 categories: Taste, Presentation, Creativity/Originality, and a brand new classification for competition – Fatazzedness. You know, the thing that makes you go hmm!

Vacha currently works in sales for US Foodservice Stock Yards Meat Packing Co. as a territory manager in sales. She has an auspicious career in the culinary arts here in the Valley as an executive chef, chef, baker and owner of establishments such as Impeccable Pig, Coyote Café, 8700 at the Citadel, Big Four Restaurants and Fork in the Road Group.

Vacha says, “Winning was a complete surprise! I’m not classically trained, so I guess the school of hard knocks really does pay off.” This isn’t Vacha’s first victory in competition but it’s certainly the most unusual.

Executive Chef Allen Dowe and the Arizona Broadway Theater were perfect hosts. The dining room was completely decked out and the service received was incomparable. Both the front and back of the house were managed with detail and respect for the customer and the guests.

Anthony Vincent and the Rhythm Dragons (www.rhythmdragons.com) opened and closed the evening and generated a new group of fans. The band donated their time and the ACF is very grateful.

There were some serious contenders out there and all of the entries were worthy. The following is a list of the meatball contestants and their creation: Joe LaVilla – Giuseppina’s Original; Larry Canepa – Sino Italian Lobster Meatball on Udon Noodles in a Szechuan Chili Ragu; Stan Reinhold - Aegean Kefted’akia
(Greek for Small Meatballs); Jean Arwood & Brook Davis - Ladies of Phoenix a Mikelson Tradition; Jason Gunn and Mike Kromrie – Tur Ball Ducken; Jeff Fritz – Cajun Pepperoni Meatball; Dieter Preiser – German Style Meatball in Caper Sauce; Mark Foster – Southwest Meatball; Lisa Shock - Bay Style Lion’s Head Meatballs; Lenny Rubin – Black or White: A Culinary Tribute to the King of Pop; Abel Ley – Italian Stallion; Chef Francine Marz – Tantalizing Turkey Balls. Don’t you just wish you were a judge?

The ACFAZ would like to thank Kim Laurie of Kim and Don, Culinary Confessions, 1440 AM KAZG; Barbara Fenzl chef and owner of Les Gourmettes Cooking School and Christina Calio, Development Director of St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance’s Community Kitchen.

St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance’s Community Kitchen students and alumnae were on hand as servers and kitchen helpers. They did a stupendous job and a student was even offered a job on the spot by one of the ACF Chefs. St. Mary’s is the main beneficiary of this event. (The amount of funds raised was not available at press time.)

The American Culinary Federation Chef’s Association of Arizona would like to extend a thank you to all of its sponsors: AIPC, Barefoot Wine and Bubbly, Creative Food Services, Food Sales West and Tyson, Freshpoint Produce, Holsum Bread, KP Culinary, Todds, A Division of H.J. Heinz, Total Source Food Services, Rich’s, National Restaurant Supply and Southwest Marketing Agents, Peddler’s Son Produce, Elkwood Manor in Pagosa Springs, CO., Nellos Bistro, Pagosa Springs, CO., The Springs Hotel and Resort, Pagosa Springs, CO., Chef Glenn Humphrey.

See you next year!