Whole Foods Market – Coral Gables

CELEBRITY CHEF SUMMER COOK-OFF CONTINUES

CHEF TIMON BALLOO AND CHEF MICHAEL JACOBS FACE OFF IN THE FINAL ROUND OF THE FILL THE GRILL $20/20 MINUTE CHALLENGE

Ladies and Gentlemen, Start Your Grills! Whole Foods Market in Coral Gables continues to bring the heat on Wednesday, August 17 during the celebrity chef Fill the Grill cook-off as renowned local chefs Timon Balloo and Michael Jacobs are given 20 minutes and $20 to speed shop for ingredients; the chefs will then get 20 minutes to make a delicious, affordable and creative summer meal using only a grill. The first battle, won by Timon Balloo of Sugarcane Raw Bar Grill, took place on Wednesday, July 20 against Daniel Ganem of Kane Steakhouse. The second battle, won by Michael Jacobs of The Miami Heat against Samuel Gorenstein of BLT Steak at The Betsy took place on Wednesday, August 3. The finals, which promise to be entertaining, between Balloo and Jacobs will take place on Wednesday, August 17. All challenges take place at 6:30 p.m. The cook-offs are free and open to the public.

A panel of judges including Fred Gonzalez of Miami.com, Lesley Elliott of Miami New Times’ Short Order food blog and Devonie Nicholas of the Food Network South Beach Wine and Food Festival will determine which chef goes to the finals. Recipes created by challenge winners will be posted online for home cooks to download for free.

Participating chefs and date/time for the finals follow:

Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 6:30 p.m.: Chef Timon Balloo of Sugarcane Raw Bar Grill vs. Chef Michael Jacobs of The Miami Heat battle in the final cook-off.

Whole Foods Market – Coral Gables is located at 6701 Red Road. Telephone: (305) 421-9435.

About Whole Foods Market®

Founded in 1980 in Austin, Texas, Whole Foods Market (wholefoodsmarket.com, NASDAQ: WFM) is the leading natural and organic food retailer. As America’s first national certified organic grocer, Whole Foods Market was named “America’s Healthiest Grocery Store” by Health magazine. The company's motto “Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet”™ captures its mission to ensure customer satisfaction and health, Team Member excellence and happiness, enhanced shareholder value, community support and environmental improvement. Thanks to the company’s nearly 60,000 Team Members, Whole Foods Market has been ranked as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” in America by FORTUNE magazine for 14 consecutive years. In fiscal year 2010, the company had sales of more than $9 billion and currently has more than 300 stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.