Carlsbad’s Kevin Zink Wins Chef Competition at Toronto’s Hot & Spicy Food Festival at Harbourfront Centre

Any chef worth his salt will tell you that what sets his specialty apart from all the rest is the secret ingredient.



For Chef Kevin Zink at the recent annual Hot & Spicy Food Festival at the Harbourfront Centre in Toronto, Canada August 15, 2010, however, his secret ingredient was no secret. In fact, the guy at the next stove over was using the exact same secret ingredient - coffee.



But by the time the last grill flame was extinguished, Zink, owner and executive chef at the Stock Exchange at Old City Hall in Carlsbad, had used his secret ingredient to knock off his competitor from Mexico, Chef Angel Francisco Ortiz Guillen, in Sunday’s finale to the 2010 winner of the Longo’s International Iron Chef Competition.



Zink joined with New Mexico Tourism Department (North America Tour Trade Director Mark Trujillo and Lisa Boeke, director of marketing for the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce, to represent New Mexico at one of the most popular annual festivals in Canada.



“Festival audiences number in the thousands,” Trujillo said, “and Kevin did an outstanding job representing New Mexico.



Employing traditional Nambé alloy in his presentation and even New Mexico green chile in his entrees, Zink bettered one of Toronto’s leading chefs, Joshna Maharaj (winner of the Canadian Competition), in the semi-finals with his chicken and mushroom sauce (mushrooms being the secret ingredient in the semis); then created a coffee-seasoned petite filet to oust in the finals.



Chefs were asked to prepare “something” within 45 minutes, using a basket of ingredients and a pre-determined shopping list. When they returned from their shopping trip, they were given a “secret ingredient” that they had to incorporate into the dish. They were evaluated on how they used that ingredient, along with other criteria.



“We congratulate Chef Kevin Zink on his success and thank him for his participation in a key event on the Department’s annual promotion calendar,” said Michael Cerletti, Secretary of the Tourism Department. “Canada remains one of New Mexico’s top international markets, and our participation in the Hot & Spicy Food Festival at the Harbourfront Centre keeps us in touch with our neighbors to the north.”



“Events like the Hot & Spicy Food Festival give us the opportunity to educate the world on what New Mexico and New Mexico cuisine have to offer,” Trujillo said



The Stock Exchange opened its doors in Carlsbad in 2009, with a desire to provide specially designed dishes, elegantly layered in Southwestern flair. The result is an urban experience under an ambiance of a time gone by at Carlsbad’s Old City Hall, located at 220 West Fox Street.



Harbourfront Centre along Lake Ontario is a cultural and educational centre for the performing arts, and a major Canadian tourist destination, offering family activities to approximately two million people over the course of the summer.



The Hot & Spicy Food Festival explores the diversity of food and flavors from around the globe, with complimentary samplings of hot sounds from Canadian and international artists. This popular festival features local, international and celebrity chefs dishing up hot and spicy cuisine in demos, workshops, and panel discussions.



“We talk to thousands of people every day in our promotion of New Mexico,” Trujillo said, “and this year, our New Mexico vacation package was also the grand-prize giveaway for the Hot and Spicy Festival, offering us even more promotional value.”



For more information about the event, visit www.harbourfrontcentre.com/worldroutes/festivals.cfm?festival_id=64


For more information about the Stock Exchange at the Old City hall in Carlsbad or to contact Chef Zink, visit www.thestockexchangenm.com.