Gold River, B.C.:

After an exhaustive review of dozens of entries by talented chefs from all over North America, the 30 competing chefs and their dishes have been chosen. These 30 chefs will proceed into the head to head competition rounds beginning March 22, 2013 in Vancouver and 8 other competitions in Los Angeles, Napa Valley, Chicago, Denver, Pittsburgh, New York City and Minneapolis.

"These decisions were incredibly tough for the judges," said Dave Mergle, Director for Skuna Bay Salmon. "Not only were these dishes incredibly creative and unique but their execution was outstanding as well. Some of the decisions were knife-edge."

Following the first round of 9 competitions, 10 chefs will emerge and continue on to one of the two semi-finals in April - one in Chicago on April 15th and one in Los Angeles on April 18th. Out of that, 2 chefs will be chosen to travel to Louisville, Kentucky and go head to head one final time. Each will be paired with a Mentor Chef, 2 prominent chefs to be announced soon, who are at the top of their game. Both of these Mentor Chefs were named as finalists this week for the upcoming James Beard Awards.

When the dust settles and the final winner is named at Taste of Derby in Louisville on May 2nd, he or she will be recognized with a full page ad along with their Mentor Chef in Saveur Magazine.

See the list of our top 30 competitors at http://skunachef-challenge.com/Page_3.html