Chef Justin Voldan of Hotel Phillips wins Golden Fork Award

Justin Voldan, the 30-year-old executive chef at the Hotel Phillips Kansas City, won the 2014 Golden Fork competition at Thursday night’s “Taste of Kansas City” event, sponsored by The Pitch in the KC Live Block of the Power & Light District. Voldan competed against five other local chefs in preparing a meal from a collection of ingredients presented to them just moments before the cooking competition started.

For a slideshow of photographs from this year’s “Taste of Kansas City” event, click here.

Voldan, an Illinois native, has been at the Hotel Phillips for three years; the Golden Fork Award was his first major culinary-competition win since he moved to Kansas City in 2011. Each of the competing chefs was given the same ingredients to use in preparing one or two (and in some cases three) unique dishes that were judged by me, author and blogger David Hayden, and food blogger and cookbook author Emily Farris. The event raised funds for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Kansas City.

The competing chefs, in addition to Voldan, were second-place winner Charles d’Ablaing from Chaz on the Plaza; third-place winner Shawn Brady from the Ambassador Hotel; Cruz Vasquez from Accurso’s Italian Restaurant; Bobby Stearns from Ophelia’s Restaurant; and the 2013 Golden Fork Award winner, Jason Wiggins from the InterContinental Hotel Kansas City.

The ingredients given to the chefs included pork rib, asparagus, potatoes, cilantro, tomatoes, onion, red wine vinegar, queso fresco, ginger and carrots.

Voldan’s two dishes featured pan-seared marinated pork chops sided with a succulent potato cake flecked with fresh cilantro, and a swath of bright-orange carrot puree – made rich with a splash of cream. A second dish was a simple ragu of pork on a bed of couscous prepared with citrus, pork stock, onions, julienne peppers and asparagus.

“I was surprised to win,” Voldan says. “The competition was very formidable, and I thought the visual presentations created by some of the chefs were beautiful. I didn’t think my dishes were as visually impressive, but I’m kind of a pessimist.”

The competing dishes were judged on taste, visual presentation and creativity.

Voldan is planning to offer his winning pork chop dish as a future special at 12 Baltimore in the Hotel Phillips.