Feast on the pasta
of Champions
Barilla 2019 Pasta World Championship U.S. Qualifying Event
Italian food company Barilla is passionate about pasta and believes that the experience of growing, cooking and eating it begins in the field and extends far and wide—from the restaurants of world-famous chefs to the kitchens and tables of everyday people. In the spirit of these tenets, every October, Barilla hosts its annual Pasta World Championship cooking competition, which convenes chefs from around the globe in one location to showcase their best, most innovative pasta creations for the chance to win the coveted title of “Master of Pasta.”
On April 11, during the VIP Opening Reception of the 12th annual Pebble Beach Food & Wine Festival, Barilla hosted the U.S. Qualifying Event for its2019 Pasta World Championship. Eight talented chefs carefully selected by experts from Food & Wine magazine, went head to head in a heated culinary battle to win the honor of being named this year’s U.S. Master of Pasta and the opportunity to travel to Paris in October to represent the U.S. in Barilla’s2019 Pasta World Championship competition.
Meet the Pasta Players
The Judges and the Host
The 2019 U.S. Qualifying Event culinary showdown was co-hosted by talented MC Billy Harris and lifestyle and entertainment expert Camille Styles, who provided live updates and commentary throughout the evening. With the stunning Inn at Spanish Bayas their backdrop, this year’s skilled U.S. contestants showed off their pasta prowess, whipping up signature pasta dishes and serving their creations to some 1,500 Pebble Beach Food & Wine Festival VIP guests and a panel of discerning judges that included Food & Wine Editor-In-Chief Hunter Lewis, Celebrity Chef Antonia Lofaso, Barilla Executive Chef Lorenzo Boni, Chef Steve Samson and Chef Carolina Diaz, Barilla’s 2018 Master of Pasta. In Milan last October, Diaz bested 16 other chefs from around the world, coming away from the event as the first-ever female chef to win the title of World Master of Pasta. To see profiles of the judges, hosts and chef contestants, and get links to each of the eight participating chefs’ U.S. Qualifying Event recipes, click here.
Meet the Prodigies
The chefs who competed in Barilla’s U.S. Qualifying Event came from a wide array of backgrounds and hailed from all over the country. The contestants included: Sean Turner, executive chef of Louie in in Clayton, Mo.; Brandon Rosen, a private chef for a client in Silicon Valley; Ryan Peters, sous chef at Fish Nor Fowl in Pittsburgh, Penn.; Kelvin Fernandez, chef and founder of Las Lapin New York City; Angelina Bastida, a private chef in Chicago; Kayla Greer, private chef to stars and famous athletes in Los Angeles; Ali LaRaia, food and beverage chef and entrepreneur in Sonoma County, Calif.; and Silvia Barban, executive chef and partner at LaRina Pastificio & Vino in New York. To see profiles of the judges, hosts and chef contestants, and get links to each of the eight participating chefs’ U.S. Qualifying Event recipes, click here.
Barilla's 2019 U.S. Pasta Masters
Sean Turner, executive chef of Louie in Clayton, Mo., emerged as this year’sbig winner, wowing judges and guests with his Barilla Collezione Bucatini with Pistachio Pestoand earning the esteemed title of 2019 U.S. Master of Pasta. For Turner, an exceptional dish doesn’t require an abundance of complex ingredients. Instead, heprefers to focus on a few really good ones that stand out and make a dish truly sing.
Meet the Winner, Make his Recipe
Barilla’s U.S. Qualifying Event was Turner’s first time everparticipating in a cooking competition, but the 31-year-old chef remained cool, calm and collected throughout the evening, keeping his head in the game and staying true to the food philosophy of Louie: flawlessexecution of less is more.Having never goneto culinary school, he said he has always felt compelled to work extra-hard to prove his worth, and with his girlfriend at his side as his sous chef in Pebble Beach, he did just that.
Brandon Rosen, a private chef for a client in Silicon Valley, was selected as this year’s People's Choice winner. Rosen, 31, won over the taste buds, stomachs and hearts of Pebble Beach’s VIP crowd with his creative Barilla Collezione Ocean Carbonara, which paired grated cauliflower with scallops, nettles, clams and bacon on top of spaghetti. Obsessed with both healthy cooking and sustainability, Rosen proudly left almost no waste at the end of his cooking session, despite tackling what was indisputably one of the most elaborate and difficult dishes made at the event.
The People Have Spoken...