T.G.I.
Friday's® Restaurants Unleash The
'Ultimate' Beverage
FoodNetwork.com's
Ultimate Recipe Beverage Showdown Winner Inspires '
Vanilla Lemon Ice' Available Only at Friday's®
Restaurants
CARROLLTON,
Texas, Feb. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- After a nationwide recipe search
to determine the ultimate beverage recipe, "Vanilla
Lemon Ice," a drink inspired by Leo Cook, a bartender
from Bloomington, Indiana, will be featured at over 600 U.S.
T.G.I. Friday's® restaurants (www.fridays.com)
beginning today.
Following
online video submissions in January, Cook's recipe was named
one of three finalists; in late January, Cook received the most
online votes and his creation won the Ultimate Beverage crown.
In addition to having his beverage creation featured at Friday's,
Cook received a trip for two to Las Vegas.
"We were overwhelmed by the amount of awesome recipes for
the Ultimate Recipe Beverage Showdown," said Andrew Jordan,
senior vice president of marketing for T.G.I. Friday's
USA. "In the end, Vanilla Lemon Ice became
the undeniable champion and we can't wait to bring this refreshing
lemon delight to our guests."
"I hope you enjoy drinking this as much as I enjoyed making
it," said Cook, whose Vanilla Lemon Ice
includes Smirnoff Vanilla Vodka, triple sec, lemonade and Sprite®.
Vanilla Lemon Ice joins the list of Ultimate
recipes now being featured at Friday's. Earlier this year, three
entrees and one dessert were judged to be best in class by a
panel of food experts on Food Network's "Ultimate Recipe
Showdown" - a six-week series featuring everyday folks
with the best recipes in America pitting their best dishes against
one another for a $25,000 prize, national acclaim and the chance
to have his or her recipe featured nationwide at T.G.I.
Friday's. This is the second consecutive year in which
winning recipes from the show have inspired entrees on the Friday's
menu and the first in which an Ultimate Beverage has been chosen.
Food Network's "Ultimate Recipe Showdown," hosted
by Guy Fieri, concluded its second season last night. The show
featured original recipes, whittled down from thousands of submissions,
in six categories - Comfort Food, Burgers, Cakes, Hot &
Spicy, Desserts and Hometown Favorites.
Carlson
Restaurants Worldwide Inc., the parent company of T.G.I. Friday's
Inc., is a privately held company owned by Minneapolis-based
Carlson, a world leader in the hospitality, travel and marketing
industries. As of February 2009, Carlson Restaurants Worldwide
owns, operates, franchises or licenses more than 1,000 restaurants
in 60 countries. For more information, visit www.fridays.com.
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