Milwaukee-based Reliable Water Services, in partnership with Milwaukee Area Technical College have selected three finalists to be judged in it’s Hottest Kitchen Entrepreneur Challenge.
The regional contest seeks to find the next great food and restaurant entrepreneur in Wisconsin. “Our three finalists’ concepts stood out as having that something extra in terms of marketability and they just happened to be healthy options as well,” said Lynn Sbonik, owner of Milwaukee-based Beans & Barley Deli, Market and Café and one of the contest judges. “We received so many really creative food business entries that it was challenging to pick only three finalists.”
Chefs and home cooks were invited to enter the contest by submitting a short application and a photo of their recipe or product concept. Finalists were selected based on originality and viability of their concept and appearance based on the initial photo.
The top three finalists include:
- The Juice Kitchen by Joanne and Maanaan Sabir of Milwaukee. The Juice Kitchen is a concept to develop a completely vegan raw juice and vegetarian food bar with the goal of providing healthy, tasty and affordable food for Milwaukee central city residents.
- Skinny Dinner Starter, Superfood Italian by Bree Schumacher of Dousman. This concept is a skinny dinner starter with an Italian flair and kale as the primary ingredient.
- Spirit of Spelt by Ann Allen of Oshkosh. Spirit of Spelt, a line of traditional cookies, individually packaged and all made with the grain spelt. Spelt bakery products offer an alternative for individuals who have sensitivity to gluten products.
Reliable Water Services is a local provider of commercial water heaters, boilers and water softeners. Finalists in the contest will compete for the grand prize in a Food Network-style judging event at MATC’s student-run restaurant Cuisine, 1015 N. Sixth St. in Milwaukee on Tuesday, July 24 at 3 p.m.
The grand prize winner will receive $2,500 in seed money from Reliable to start their business; a comprehensive entrepreneurial consultation package from MATC, over $500 worth of professional cookware and professional knives from Boelter Superstore and a two-hour private meeting with food industry executives serving on FaB Milwaukee’s Advisory Council.
