VINO LAS VEGAS watches Chefs and Celebraties go head to head at the Bon Appetit Vegas Uncorked Culinary Pro-Am Masters vs Rookies

When you bring a publication like Bon Appetit ,the worlds best chefs, add some celebrities and put them in a culinary city like Las Vegas you are in for a treat.

Vino Las Vegas attended the Culinary Pro-Am Masters vs Rookies events at the world famous Caesars Palace when Bon Appetit came to town with their Vegas Uncorked
four day culinary event.

This event paired world renown Chefs like Rick Moonen ,
Paul Bartolotta and young upcoming Chefs like Carlo Buscaglia

with talented actor John O' Hurley and comedian Louie
Anderson to prepare a meal in 30 minuets for a tough panel

of judges.

The big twist in the competition was there was a secret ingredient
that had be the focus of the dish. And to make it more interesting, the meal would be judged by a panel of culinary experts and in front of a live audience.

Both rounds were emceed by Chefs Mary Sue Milliken and
Susan Feniger who did a great job explaining the rules and keeping

tabs on the teams as they created their dishes within the 30 minuet time frame.

The judging panel was quite impressive with Barbara Fairchild
Editor-in-Chief of Bon Appetit, Alan Richman Bon Appetit's
Special Correspondent , Andrew Knowlton Bon Appetit's

Restaurant Editor and the Food Network's Vice President of Program Planning and Acquisitions Bruce Seidel critique each
dish

Round one had a secret ingredient of Lobster. We were surprised
they would use Lobster as it is fairly common and not to mention one of the competing chefs is renown world wide for his seafood.

Nevertheless, the kitchens went to work and produced culinary
works of art. Once we saw the finished creations it was hard
to believe these dishes were done within 30 minutes without knowing the "secret" ingredient.

The talented team of Chef Rick Moonen and Louie Anderson

prevailed in a very close vote by the esteemed panel of judges.

Round 2 began with Renown Chef Paul Bartolotta putting his
skills to the test against the young and very talented Chef Carlo
Buscaglia. Of course, team Bartolotta would not be complete with
out the help of actor John O' Hurley.

Round two got off to a tough start when the secret ingredient was
revealed to be Squash Blossoms. We knew this ingredient would
really push their culinary skills to the limit to be able to impress
the judges.

After a tough battle and alot of laughs from the John O' Hurley team, Bartolotta was declared the winner. In a competition like this we all winners to be able to see culinary talent like this put to the test.

This was a great event to showcase renown Chefs as well as giving
us a hint of the young talent that is on deck and always ready to
go to bat.

Join VINO LAS VEGAS as we watched both of these incredible competitions unfold at the Culinary Pro-Am 2008 Bon Appetit's Vegas Uncorked.