Firefighters Battle Chefs in Rosslyn Food Challenge

Fire chiefs will take on restaurant chefs at an event benefiting the Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC) Wednesday evening.

“We wanted to do something new,” said Joy Myers, of AFAC. “A lot of events that nonprofits host are cocktail receptions and silent auctions…this was something different.”

The organization wanted to go with something food-centric for the fall fundraiser, and had heard of other cooking challenges in the area, so the idea for “Chiefs Vs. Chefs” was born. The groups will compete for the Golden Eggplant award.

All proceeds from the event benefit the nonprofit food assistance center, which served 80,000 clients last year and distributed 1.9 million pounds of food to needy Arlingtonians.

The chefs will hail from Courthouse’s Bayou Bakery, Shirlington’s Carlyle Grand, and Clarendon’s Eventide.

Firefighters represent several fire stations in Arlington County.

"You know, they're firefighters first and cooks second, but they can get serious in the kitchen too,” Fire Chief James Schwartz said of his firehouse teams. “We plan on bringing our A-game and leaving no prisoners, all in the name of fun and a great cause."

The event takes place from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Key Bridge Marriott on 1401 Lee Highway in Rosslyn.

It is open to the public and tickets and sponsorships are available online. For details or to purchase tickets, visit AFAC’s website, www.afac.org. Tickets are $100 per person or $175 for two. The tickets include an open beer and wine bar and hors d'oeuvres.

A full list of participants:

• Chef David Guas, owner of the Courthouse area’s Bayou Bakery, Chef Todd Pozinsky from Shirlington’s Carlyle Grand, and Chef Adam Barnett from Clarendon’s Eventide will take on the firefighters.
• And the firefighters are: Lt. Bosephus Bennett from Fire Station No. 6, Capt. Claude Conde from Fire Station No. 10, firefighter/EMT Brian Dobson from Station No. 8, firefighter/EMT Anthony Westfall from Station No. 4, Lt. Richard Slusher III from Station No. 5, and Assistant Fire Chief Jeff Liebold.