Hall of Fame Chef Gale Gand to Serve as Celebrity Judge in Aurora Best Dessert Contest

Photo credit: Stephen Hamilton. Submitted article.

Aurora Area Convention & Visitors Bureau is pleased to announce a celebrity judge March 5 in Sandwich for the best dessert competition.

Chef Gale Gand is a nationally acclaimed pastry chef, restaurateur, cookbook author, television personality, teacher, entrepreneur and mother.

Chef Gand has been recognized as Outstanding Pastry Chef of the Year by The James Beard Foundation and by Bon Appetite magazine and has been inducted into the Chicago Chefs Hall of Fame. Gale will be joined by the host judge Mayor Rick Olson, President Dean Hummell of Big Rock and Mayor Gary Golinski of Yorkville.

The competition will take place starting at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 5, at the Sandwich Opera House, 140 East Railroad St. The event is free and open to the public.

All restaurants in Aurora, Batavia, Big Rock, Hinckley, Montgomery, North Aurora, Plano, Sandwich, Sugar Grove and Yorkville are invited to participate. The dessert entered MUST be a regular menu item.

To enter, email Mike Pfeiffer at Sales@EnjoyAurora.com. Only the first 10 to apply will compete.

The Illinois Restaurant Association will officiate over the judging process and declare the winner.

The next competition will be held at the Big Rock Fire Station to find the area’s best earth-to-table meal. It will be at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 16.

The culinary champions, along with the first and second runners up-each month will be featured in a new travel itinerary that will be used to make the Aurora Area a culinary destination for the traveling public.

For more information about the competition go to www.EnjoyAurora.com/culinary-champions.cfm