Whole Foods Market – Coral Gables Hosts A Celebrity Chef Summer Cook-off

LOCAL CHEFS FILL THE GRILL IN $20/20 MINUTE CHALLENGE

Foodies, grilling aficionados and cooking competition lovers are invited to Whole Foods Market in Coral Gables this summer to feel the heat during the celebrity chef Fill the Grill cook-off. Renowned local chefs Daniel Ganem, Timon Balloo, Samuel Gorenstein and Michael Jacobs will be given 20 minutes and $20 to speed shop for ingredients; then, the chefs will get 20 minutes to make a delicious, creative summer meal using only a grill. The first battle takes place on Wednesday, July 20 followed by round two on Wednesday, August 3 the finals are set to take place on Wednesday, August 17. All challenges will take place at 6:30 p.m. A panel of judges will determine which chef goes to the next round. Recipes created by challenge winners will be posted online for home cooks to download for free.

Participating chefs, dates/times follow:

Wednesday, July 20, 2011: Chef Daniel Ganem of Kane Steakhouse vs. Chef Timon Balloo of Sugarcane

Wednesday, August 3, 2011: Chef Samuel Gorenstein of BLT Steak at The Betsy vs. Chef Michael Jacobs, chef for The Miami Heat

Wednesday, August 17, 2011: July 20th winner vs. the August 3rd winner 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.