Sizzling at Macy’s Culinary Council’s Sizzle Showdown #SP

This past weekend I headed to Macy’s for the annual Sizzle Showdown, hosted by their very own Culinary Council. It was an extremely hot day in NYC and I wondered how the contestants would duke it out under the sky’s scorching sun. There six budding chefs would compete for a grand prize of $10,000 and a trip to Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks to be revealed as America’s Grilling Guru.

I was invited as a guest of Macy’s Culinary Council, a national culinary authority comprising some of the nation’s leading culinary master. Launched in 2003, MCC’s team of distinguished chefs serves to inspire the way Macy’s customers shop, cook and eat at home. The chefs are both ambassadors and instructors, providing expert culinary advice and leading cooking demonstrations at Macy’s stores, with the aim of teaching customers how to cook and shop like a master chef.

As an annual event, the Sizzle Showdown is pretty well-known and thousands audition every year. From April 15th to May 3rd, people across the nation submitted prized recipes along with images of their finished dish for a chance to win a spot in the “Sizzle Showdown” Finale  as grilling guru.

This year Sarah M from Hampden, Maine, Sonya G. from Moorhead, MN, Devon D. from Westport, New Jersey, Mary S. from Ada, Oklahoma, Sherri W. from Creastview, Florida and Jack S. from Anaheim, California were selected and flown to NYC to compete against each other in the finals. Two of MCC’ culinary finests, Todd English and Johnny Iuzzini, were on hand in NYC as judges to select the best grilling dish.

Each contestant had a limited amount of time to prepare their dishes on their own grill from the stage. Each recipe was unique and I give them all lot of credit for cooking in the NYC heat. Sherri W. took the prize home for her Grilled Thai Lamb Lion Chops after Todd and Johnny sampled it and shared a taste with the audience. They presented her with a life-size check of 10K for which she looked very pleased. Who wouldn’t be?

I loved watching these budding chefs at work, tasting their dishes and being a part of the culinary process to see who would become MACY’S GREAT AMERICAN GRILLING GURU.

Disclosure: I am a member of the Everywhere Society and Everywhere has provided me with compensation for this post. However, all thoughts and opinions expressed herein are my own.