Meeting Planners, Travel Professionals and Leisure Partners Compete for Prizes and Bragging Rights

Back for a second consecutive year, the MGM Resorts International Recipe Showdown is expanding to 16 cities across the U.S. and Canada, and this year it’s open to travel professionals in addition to meeting planners.

The initial showdown was a success with meeting planners in 12 cities dishing up best-kept secret recipes for a chance to win a trip to Las Vegas, prepare their dishes in front of celebrity chef judges including award-winning chef Julian Serrano , and enjoy a special private performance by The Mirage headliner Terry Fator .  Only one could prevail as the first-ever winner of this competition and that honor went to Melissa Moskal , creative manager at Prime Strategies in Vancouver, Canada, who wowed the judges with Melissa’s Marvelous Moussaka .

Now is the time to start sifting through those kitchen drawers for that favorite family recipe. Winners of each city showdown will be whisked away to Las Vegas in October for the national finals and compete for the honor, prizes and bragging rights of being the 2015 MGM Resorts International Recipe Showdown winner!  The 16 finalists will prepare their dishes in front of a live audience cheering on their picks.  

The city showdowns begin in June and go through September where one winner will emerge from each location. 

Prizes include fabulous Vegas vacations with fine dining options and limo transportation. 

Showdown cities:

1.     Washington D.C. – June 2

2.     Vancouver, BC – June 9

3.     Minneapolis – June 17

4.     Toronto – June 23

5.     Seattle – July 9

6.     Salt Lake City – August 12

7.     Indianapolis – August 12

8.     Philadelphia – August 13

9.     Boston – August 18

10.  New York City – August 20

11.  Denver – August 20

12.  Los Angeles – August 20

13.  Dallas – August 25

14.  Atlanta – August 27

15.  San Francisco – September 9

16.  Chicago – September 1

17.  FINALS – Las Vegas – October 29

      Contest details:

·           Recipes can be any type of dish from appetizer, entrée to dessert served for breakfast, lunch, dinner or late-night  City competitions will be judged by fellow meeting and travel professionals

·      The top three finalists from each city will have their recipes featured in a recipe book by meeting and travel professionals for meeting and travel professionals

·      First place finalist in each city will be flown to Las Vegas for the national finals on October 29 to compete in a 16-person Cook-Off. Transportation and lodging will be provided by MGM Resorts International.  Judges for the finals will be celebrity chefs from MGM Resorts International restaurants

• Finals

o      1^st Place – All-expense-paid trip to the South Beach Wine & Food Festival in Miami; February 25 – 28, 2016

o      2^nd Place – Three-night stay at an MGM Resorts destination in Las Vegas, airport limo transfer, dinner each night

o      3^rd Place – Two-night stay at an MGM Resorts destination in Las Vegas, airport limo transfer, dinner each night