Chop Hunger II

Masbia Soup Kitchen Network’s Chop Hunger II – Smoke & Mirrors Competition took place at Lincoln Square Synagogue in Manhattan on Wednesday, September 21st, 2016. It was again a “chopped” style cooking competition where the competing chefs had to create a memorable meal from the ingredients of a surprise culinary basket.

The host for the sensational Chop Hunger II – Smoke & Mirrors event was hosted by Emmy award winning TV producer, Chef Avi Levy of Avi’s Kosher Kitchen and featured three celebrity kosher BBQ chefs from around the country who traded in their grills and smokers for pots and pans for the competition. They were, Bryan Gryka of Milt’s in Chicago, Asaf Hadad of Fuego in Miami and Mendel Segal of BBQ Rabbi in Kansas City. The judges for the event were New York chefs Mike Gershkovich from Mike’s Bistro and Jordana Hirschel of The Blue Ladle.

The competition was preceded by a tapas dinner that included a wine and tomato tasting. The tapas dinner was made up of foods that illustrated stories of the struggles that the Masbia cooking staff deal with on a daily basis. Every item on the menu reflected the culinary decisions that go into feeding hundreds of people a night with an ad hoc, and often scarce set of ingredients. Since getting Kosher protein is always a challenge, the tapas featured proteins from three brands who regularly help Masbia feed the needy.

Below, are videos we made for the event!