Both Chefs, Finalists in this Year’s James Beard Awards, will cook Skuna Bay Salmon at Taste of Derby™, a Kentucky Derby® Culinary Experience in Louisville, KY

Gold River, B.C. (April 15, 2013) — Two of America’s top chefs have signed on to prepare and serve Skuna Bay Salmon at the Taste of Derby™, the Kentucky Derby® culinary experience in Louisville, KY on May 2, 2013. Chef Stephanie Izard, Executive Chef/Partner of Girl & the Goat and Little Goat in Chicago and Chef Jennifer Jasinski from Rioja, Euclid Hall and Bistro Vendôme in Denver will both proudly represent Skuna Bay Salmon at America’s Race, this year’s 139th Run for the Roses. In addition, both chefs will be paired with the two Skuna Bay Chef Challenge finalists who will be competing head to head on May 1, 2013 in Louisville, KY.

Chef Stephanie Izard from Chicago is a finalist for this year’s James Beard Best Chef Award in the Great Lakes region and is currently known as one of the top chefs in America. She has won numerous accolades including Food & Wine “Best New Chef” as well as past nominations for James Beard Awards. She is also known for winning Bravo’s “Top Chef Season 4”, the first female chef to accomplish this honor. Chef Stephanie personally visited the Nootka Sound region to inspect Skuna Bay’s sea farms in April, 2012.

Chef Jennifer Jasinski from Denver is also a finalist for this year’s James Beard Best Chef Award in the Southwest region as well as being a past finalist in 2012. Jennifer has won numerous accolades including named 2004 Colorado Chef of the Year and 2005 Western Regional Chef of the Year by the American Culinary Federation and she has also been named Chef of the Year, Best New Chef, Rising Star and more in Restaurant Hospitality, Nation’s Restaurant News, The Denver Post and 5280 Magazine.

“We feel incredibly fortunate that both of these great chefs will be on hand in Louisville to represent and cook with Skuna Bay Salmon at America’s most highly regarded event, the Kentucky Derby. The best part is that the Taste of Derby itself is expected to raise thousands of dollars for hunger relief charities across the United States,” said Dave Mergle of Skuna Bay Salmon. “And of course our two chef finalists from the Skuna Bay Chef Challenge Competition will be thrilled to have each of these chefs in their corners as they compete in the May 1st final showdown.” Said Kristin Warfield VP of Partnerships at Churchill Downs®, "It is a pleasure to welcome both of Skuna Bay's Mentor Chefs, Stephanie Izard and Jennifer Jasinski, and we look forward to their contributions as we celebrate the "greatest two minutes in sports" and Taste of Derby, as well as experience the innovation and expertise they will bring to the Skuna Bay Chef Challenge."

The Skuna Bay Salmon Chef Challenge was developed to involve chefs from around America and connect them to the Kentucky Derby® partnership where Skuna Bay was selected as Salmon of Choice. Chefs were invited to enter their best Skuna Bay Salmon dish at www.skunachef-challenge.com and from there 30 were selected to compete. Nine different first round competitions were held in Vancouver, Orange County, Napa Valley, Pittsburgh, New York, Chicago, Denver and Minneapolis, with each chef having 90 minutes to fillet their salmon, prepare their dish and present it to the judges. The top ten chefs then advanced to the upcoming semi-finals in Chicago on April 16 at College of Dupage and April 18 at Drago Centro in Los Angeles. The winner at each of those two competitions advance to the Kentucky Derby® final competition May 1 at Sullivan Culinary Institute in Louisville, Kentucky. The winner will be named May 2 at the Taste of Derby, the Kentucky Derby culinary experience and will be recognized nationally in a two-page spread in Saveur Magazine. To assist each finalist as they prepare for their final competition, they will be paired with one of the two Mentor Chefs – Chef Stephanie Izard or Chef Jennifer Jasinski.

Here is the list of remaining competing chefs – two of whom will advance on April 16 and April 18 to compete in the Louisville finals – and be paired with Chef Stephanie and Chef Jennifer:

Eric Larcom, Downtown Calgary Marriott Riley Romanin, Hooked, Vail, CO Andrew Sutton, Napa Rose at Grand Californian Resort and Spa, Anaheim, CA Ken Fazel, Tender at Luxor, Las Vegas, NV Tedd Romero, Lucy at Bardessono Hotel, Yountville, CA Carlo Lamagna, Perennial Virant, Chicago Jason Benegasi, Biba, Pittsburgh Anthony Sasso, Casa Mono, NYC Nick Cataldo, Lure Fishhouse, NYC David Yusefzadeh, Smack Shack, Minneapolis

A photo, bio and description of each chef’s dish can be found at http://www.skunachef-challenge.com/Page22.html