Tonight over 250 guests were at Top of the Market for the 2nd annual “chopped” inspired fundraiser, Diced in Dayton fundraiser to benefit Miami Valley Meals. A dozen chefs volunteered their time to make an appetizer from a mystery they were given. Guest then tasted the dishes created by our Chefs and voted for their favorite. Just like the Chefs at Miami Valley Meals– chefs are challenged to create a tasty meal from the mystery ingredients.
Each week Valley Meals (MVM) recovers and transforms donated food into meals which are then distributed through a network of nonprofit partner organizations that feed the hungry. They provide over 4,000 nourishing meals made with love that honor the dignity of people in need.
There were 4 different boxes.
Box A contained beef brisket, red & white quinoa, fresh peppers and dates.
Chef Gavin St Denis from Corner Kitchen, Chef Waver Howard from Creative Delights Catering and Chef Ashley Ashbrooks from Blind Dogs got this box.
Box B had ground turkey, fresh beets, hominy and pumpkin puree.
Chef Jasmine Brown from De’Lish, Chef Matt Thomas from Ellie’s At the Mills Hotel and Chef Chris Spiritos from Greek Street took on these ingredients
Box C was loaded with pork cushion meat, yellow squash, sweet potatoes and corn flakes.
Chef Nate Lansangan from KungFU BBQ, Chef Santiago Herrera from Napales and Chef Chris Coherd from Gather by Ghostlight created from these ingredinets.
Box D had a whole, chicken, fresh tomatoes, yellow spilt peas and quick oats.
Chef Patrick Thompson from redBerry, Che Gail from Bella Sorella Pizza Co. and Chef Gerald Richardson of Rich Taste Catering were given this box.
Guests were amazed and the quality and variety of food they got to taste tonight!
Judge’s Choice and People’s Choice
Guests made the rounds of all the Chef Tables and voted for their favorite. A panel of judges also picked their favorite. In a weird coincidence both the people and the judges both voted Chef Gerald Richardson were voted first place.
The evenings finale was a true “Chopped” cook off between Chef Gerald and 2nd place finisher Chef Gavin St Denis from Corner Kitchen.
These 2 chefs then faced off in a final cookoff. They were presented with a mystery box that had an assortment of mushrooms, a box of Uncle Boof’s World Famous PancakeMix and a jar of Golden Madras Curry Sauce. They also had use of pantry ingredients and 2 burners. In front of a huge crowd, they were given 25 minutes to create a dish. Chef Gerald created a dish he called “Almost Shrimp & Grits” while Chef Gavin’s dish was “Mushroom Pancakes Puttanesca.” After a quick deliberatin, Chef Gavin St. Denis from Corner Kitchen was named the Diced Champion for 2023.
Preliminary totals indicated over $34,00 was raised via sponsors, ticket sales, raffle and wine pull.
Meet Chef Waverly Howard, affectionately known as Chef Wave, hailing proudly from Dayton, Ohio. Over the last decade, he has breathed life into his culinary aspirations. Chef Wave’s odyssey commenced with launching his food truck, 
About Miami Valley Meals: Miami Valley Meals is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides delicious chef-inspired meals to Daytonians experiencing food insecurity. Since we first launched our program in 2020, our team of professional chefs have recovered thousands of pounds of surplus food from a variety of local sources and transformed it into more than 580,000 meals for our hungry neighbors. These fresh and hearty meals are distributed free of charge throughout the Miami Valley by our network of nonprofit partners in an effort to help residents thrive.
For the first time since its inception in 1960, 
to celebrate this milestone and hear the story. Lisa shared with me over a cup of coffee and sour cream donut that they listed the business and building for sale a year ago. It was in July of this year that the details all lined up for a local buyer to purchase the business. Lisa told me it was time to retire and the hours were beginning to take a toll on her and her brother Jim.
TheatreLab is finding it’s footing in the Dayton performance scene…hence the 24 piece band, the largest cast in their history, and a show that demands all of it. This weekend, Friday September 15th and Saturday the 16th, Mel Brooks masterpiece ‘The Producers’ comes to life on the Victoria Theater Stage! Watching the Wednesday ‘dress,’ you can see this cast has worked themselves…into a frenzy!
It’s cathartic.’ says Lakes.
Of course, at its pinnacle, the show resurrects the German Dictator, Adolph Hitler. And that was, from the outset, an outrage. But Brooks adds a magical tongue in cheek approach to the evil Nazi and his gang. Hitler, played in this production, by the hysterical Joshua Stucky, is to be laughed at much more than with. Stucky has a way of performing roles with sarcasm and sass. He is matched up with Joshua Hughes (Carmen) who is scene stealer.