It’s a Silicon Valley Food Fight!!
Photo illustration: Erik Mace/Yahoo
It’s going to be a big night in Silicon Valley. Executives from Yahoo, Google, LinkedIn, Samsung, Oracle, and Brocade will face off in a high-stakes competition to see which company is truly the best. Not who has the best apps, or whose teams write the best code, or who has the best home page, but who has the best … food.
If you know anything about Silicon Valley, you know that tech companies take their cafeterias and food-service programs very seriously. We at Yahoo, of course, like to think our company has some serious culinary cred. Heck, even Thomas Keller, one of the world’s best chefs, and the one-and-only Ina Garten came to visit our fine campus in Sunnyvale. (True story.)
Tonight, all will be revealed when the executive chefs from each company go head to head in a battle inspired by “Chopped”—and complete with mystery basket. The event is the official kick-off for the Bite Silicon Valley festival. Chaired by Chef José Andrés, this event will examine the intersection of food and technology through a series of panels, talks, and tastings. Bite will take place June 5-7 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara and tickets are now on sale.
The competition will take place in a neutral location — the International Culinary Center in Campbell, Calif. The judges, an esteemed group welcome to visit Yahoo any time, will be Chef Hubert Keller of Fleur in Las Vegas and Burger Bar in San Francisco; David Kinch, chef of Manresa in Los Gatos, Calif., and dean of the International Culinary Center; Food Network personality and Chef Marc Murphy; and San Francisco Chronicle restaurant critic Michael Bauer.
Representing Yahoo will be the company’s brand new executive chef, Russell Grabe. Originally from Chicago, Grabe worked at Google for several years and spent 12 years as a chef in Las Vegas.
Good luck tonight, Russell! Team Yahoo is rooting for you. And no pressure. Winning isn’t everything. But we’re pretty sure the person who said that didn’t work at Yahoo.
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