The WIn a first-of-its-kind recipe challenge, three professional women chefs have proven once again that a woman's place is definitely in the kitchen. Olivado Natural Nutrition and Women Chefs & Restaurateurs (WCR) announce the winners of the "2007 Olivado Avocado Oil Chef Quest: Celebrating Women Chefs" competition. Winners were selected from three recipe categories: Meat/Poultry, Seafood, and Vegetables. 
 
The winners are:
 
Angie Armenise from the Pinelli Marra Restaurant Group in Providence, Rhode Island, for her "Olivado Commends Sea Bass . Fresca Style" - SEAFOOD        
 
Ellie Basch from Everyday Gourmet, LLC, in Richmond, Virginia for her "Olivado Citrus Salad" -VEGETABLES
 
Charlotte Fekete from the Fire & Flavor Grilling Company in Athens, Georgia, for her East West Steak with Jalapeno Slaw - MEAT/POULTRY
           
The three winners and their guests will be flown to Australia for a 10-day trip that includes competing against Australian women chefs in Olivado's International Chef Cook-off, part of their annual Seafood Festival in Morton Bay, June 9th and 10th, for the Olivado Cup.

Olivado chose to partner with Women Chefs & Restaurateurs because they believe in the organization's mission: the education and advancement of women in the restaurant industry and the betterment of the industry as a whole. More than 50 percent of the food service industry workforce is women, yet few reach the upper echelons of their profession. Along with the WCR, Olivado is committed to helping change that. Chris Nathan, founder and managing partner of Olivado, felt that the competition, open exclusively to WCR members, would help shine the spotlight on the talent of women chefs in the U.S. Olivado challenged these talented women to create health-inspired recipes using Olivado's heart-healthy, cold-pressed avocado oil.

All of the chefs participating in the competition loved working with this relatively new product in the U.S. They found Olivado's range of avocado oils delicious and easy to use. "This competition has been a delicious blast," said one participating chef. Another commented, "I never heard of this product before this contest, but now I find that I'm using it everyday. I love it."
 
Three of the culinary industry's most respected women chefs - Helene Kennan, Executive Chef for Bon Appétit at the Getty Center in Los Angeles and president of WCR; Kersti Bowser, TV chef and owner of Gourmet Butterfly Media; and Eve Felder, associate dean for culinary studies at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York - sorted through the dozens of entries and narrowed the field to six final recipes. Under the watchful eye of Dean Eve Felder, seven of her women students prepped the six final recipes on May 5th at the school's Hyde Park campus and the three winners were selected.
 
"We were anxious to try the six recipes," said Felder. "There were so many innovative recipes it was hard to choose the winners."
 
Helene Kennan explains that women chefs have a unique way of creating new dishes using all of their senses, not just the obvious sense of taste to create dishes that look and smell as wonderful as they taste. WCR's partnership with Olivado for this cooking challenge provided a great stage to show how women create. Oil is an essential ingredient in cooking and Olivado's product has a unique flavor profile and cooking properties that easily lend themselves to a variety of uses. The innovative entries and the winning recipes proved this to be true.

Olivado Natural Nutrition pioneered the avocado oil production process by creating the first cold pressed extra virgin avocado oil to become today's leading international brand. Olivado's avocado oil is one of the heart-healthiest cooking oils available today. Its light flavor and color enhances the taste of food, and its high smoke point makes it ideal for a variety of cooking methods.

ABOUT THE CHEFS

ANGIE ARMENISE - is the executive chef of the Pinelli Marra Restaurant Group in Rhode Island for three of their eight restaurants, two of which she opened for them. She is in the beginning stages of opening another restaurant for them as the executive chef. Born and bred in Chicago, Angie love cities, action, food, trends and style. She moved to Rhode Island eight years ago to attend culinary school and never left. Her mission is to create food for people who appreciate it, to grow a little each day, and to give back in any way that she can.
 
ELLIE BASCH - The chef and owner of Everyday Gourmet, a catering company, comes from a long line of cooks; her grandmother owned a restaurant and her mother is a caterer in Central Java. Ellie spent her formative years working in her mother's catering kitchen, learning her way around spices and herbs that are the hallmark of Indonesian cuisine.  

Ellie came to the United States in 1994 to attend Beloit College in Wisconsin, but after graduating with a degree in English literature, Ellie found herself drawn back into the food business. She opened Everyday Gourmet in January 2002.

After building Everyday Gourmet for four years, Ellie expanded her business to indulge her other passion - teaching. She became the coordinator of a non-profit organization's culinary training program. As the manager of New Visions, New Ventures' Breadwinners Program, Ellie helps low income women learn the business and food industry fundamentals needed to start their own food businesses.
 
CHARLOTTE FEKETE - Charlotte's interest in cooking began by cooking with her mother as she made every meal and every dinner party from scratch. Her mother's dedication to cooking a family meal instilled in Charlotte a life-long appreciation for food and for cooking for others. 
 
Now a recent graduate of the University of Georgia, Charlotte has spent the last year and a half creating new recipes using the products of Fire and Flavor Grilling Company. A true lover of food, she is always actively learning something new to incorporate into her recipes. Her goal is to always make the recipes interesting, simple and delicious, so that home cooks can have a successful and exciting meal that they can share. The recipes she creates are featured on the company's website, packaging, recipe cards and promotional literature. In her time there, Charlotte has played a significant role in creating the company's new line of spice rubs and has expanded her culinary skills to food styling. 
 
Charlotte has recently extended her recipe writing skills to a local magazine, Lake Oconee Living, where she creates her recipes around a themed ingredient or subject, such as honey, summer lemon treats, and a Valentine's tapas party. She also styles all of her recipes for the photographs in the magazine. 
 
ABOUT OLIVADO NATURAL NUTRITION
 
Olivado Natural Nutrition is based at Kerikeri in the beautiful Bay of Islands, near the top of New Zealand's North Island - the so-called "Winterless North." Olivado has been recognized as one of the top food innovators in New Zealand by the food magazine Cuisine, which praised Olivado for helping found the avocado oil industry in New Zealand and for its strong marketing initiatives that have been crucial in making both the product and brand a success. Olivado is one of "13 cool companies transforming Kiwi business," according to a leading business publication. It is also the proud recipient of the 2002 Massey University Food Award for Best Gourmet Foods, the Enterprise Award, the 2001 Television New Zealand/Marketing Magazine Small Business Award, and many more. Olivado believes that the complex combinations of nutrients naturally found in fruits and vegetables, as opposed to supplements, are essential in order to maintain optimal health, and to that end their products are all designed to enhance natural nutrition. Olivado products are distributed around the world and available in gourmet centers and grocers across the United States. To learn more go to www.Olivado.com.