24 compete, network in Top Chef: Downtown Iowa City

IOWA CITY — Tiny tacos, mini empanadas and petite pies took center stage at the seventh annual Top Chef: Downtown Iowa City on Monday.

With 24 establishments showing off their best entrees, desserts and cocktails, the night was a chance for food fans to eat their way through bite-sized portions before voting on who would take home the title of Top Chef.

It was also a chance for many diners to try new things.

For Ben Russell of Iowa City, that meant digging into a cup of Vietnamese soup from I Love Pho, which has a small restaurant in the Old Capitol Town Center.

'It's a great chance to break out of your comfort zone and get to try different things,' he said. 'It's excellent, and I don't know when I would have tried it otherwise.'

Jill Fishbaugh of Iowa City also was impressed with the dish.

'I'm going to try his restaurant,' she said. 'I walk by (it) all the time, but I've never tried it.'

For Rachelle Schmidt and Tim Roed, owners of Iowa City-based Wild Culture Kombucha, the event was a chance to introduce their products to new people. Their kombucha was featured in two dishes — their Pineapple Jalapeno kombucha was part of cabbage slaw dressing served by Bread Garden Market, and their Beet Orange Lime kombucha was featured in a cocktail by Motley Cow Café.

'It shows the local Iowa City food community is very accepting of small businesses and is very collaborative,' Roed said. 'This is a competition, but it's also a very cool networking thing for everyone.'

The event, organized by the Iowa City Downtown District and hosted at the hotelVetro, sold out in record time this year — all 370 tickets were gone in less than three hours.

Betsy Potter, the Downtown District's director of operations, said she was excited to see several new restaurants participating this year, including I Love Pho, Maestro Empanadas, Crepes de Luxe and Northside Bistro.

But in the end, only a few could win. The People's Choice winners were Sweet & Treats for top dessert, Sam Abba of The Mill for top mixologist, Wesley Ward of High Ground Cafe for top barista and Baroncini for top entree.

A panel of guest judges picked Luke Meyer from Pints as top mixologist, Bluebird Diner for top dessert and University of Iowa Dining for top entree — smoked duck breast with a duck liver doughnut and caramel orange glaze.

'Sometimes the university is overlooked as a culinary destination,' catering chef Anne Watson said. 'It's fun for us to flex our muscles and do something fun and different. It's not just dorm food. We like to eat, too.'

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