The two-part competition began with a preliminary Top-Chef style challenge, dubbed Challenge Denmark in honor of last year’s winner. A week before the competition, beets were revealed to be the main ingredient -- the others were kept secret. Competitors received a basket of ingredients inspired by Danish cuisine on the day of competition and were tasked to create a menu on the spot using what they had, with a time limit of two hours.
Ellingstad's winning menu:
Poached Chicken with Beetroot Purè,
Beets Agnolotti stuffed with Blue Cheese,
Buttersteamed Beets, Ryebread Croutons and Rosemary Sauce
"This was great fun!", said Ellingstad, "I won the challenge that felt most important to me, as it takes skill and creativity under pressure. Anyone can serve up decent canapees given enough time to prepare, but it takes experience to create and cook a good menu in two hours without preparation."
Chef Ellingstad was among three winners, out of more than a dozen chefs from Washington, DC embassies who competed in this friendly culinary competition. The chefs represent countries from around the world and a panel of celebrity chefs and food critics serves as judges throughout the competition and select the Judge's Choice Award. Event attendees sample food, meet the chefs, and choose the People's Choice winner. The second part of the competition is the open tasting where DC’s cultural and diplomatic communities come together to experience the talents of the competitors. The scores from this event were combined with the scores from Challenge Denmark to pick the Judges Choice award winner.
Sondre has cooked at the Norwegian Embassy in DC since the summer of 2011. This summer, he will move back to Scandinavia to continue his career.
"At the Embassy, I run my own kitchen, and it has been a great experience, but I am only 21 and still have lots to learn. I plan to take a lower level chef's position at a gourmet restaurant and continue my path to culinary excellence" said Ellingstad.
Left to right: Cultural Officer Urd Milbury, Chef Sondre Bruvik Ellingstad, Rev. Dr. Cecilie Strommen, Ambassador Wegger Chr. Strommen, Cultural Officer Pia Dahl.