San Jose, CA: Better Burger Project participating chef Domenica Catelli took home First place at the annual Produce Marketing Association’s Foodservice Conference and Expo in Monterey, California on Saturday July, 25th with her Ultimate Burger 2.0. Chef Domenica is participating in the Better Burger Project, a campaign to encourage participates to Blend their burgers with mushrooms and meat to create a healthy, delicious and more sustainable burger. Chef Domenica’s restaurant Catelli’s in Sonoma, California has been featuring the upgraded Blend burger since Memorial Day 2015. Unique to the competition this year and throughout the project is Chef Domenica’s 50/50 blend of mushrooms to meat.
Attendees met with Chef Domenica to learn about the Better Burger Project while enjoying the Ultimate Burger 2.0 for lunch. Attendees voted and found Chef Domenica’s burger and the Blend technique as the winning concept to innovate the plate by creatively and deliciously featuring produce as the entrée.
“The response I have received by my restaurant guests to the Ultimate Burger 2.0 has been incredible,” commented winning Chef Domenica “Even my regular, meat-loving customers who previously ordered the all-beef burger tell me the new Blended burger is the best, juiciest burger they have ever had. The challenge was in providing 50% mushroom to meat mix and to get the texture and flavor perfect. By my standards, that has been achieved. ”
Over 220 chefs and restaurants have participated in the Better Burger Project
this year by menuing Blend Burgers since Memorial Day. The five chefs with the most Instagram posts by July 31st will be invited to prepare their Blend burgers at the annual James Beard Foundation Conference at the historic James Beard House in October.
About The Mushroom Council:
The Mushroom Council is composed of fresh market producers or importers who average more than 500,000 pounds of mushrooms produced or imported annually. The mushroom program is authorized by the Mushroom Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Act of 1990 and is administered by the Mushroom Council under the supervision of the Agricultural Marketing Service. Research and promotion programs help to expand, maintain and develop markets for individual agricultural commodities in the United States and abroad. These industry self-help programs are requested and funded by the industry groups that they serve.
Source: The Mushroom Council
