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| Mike Isabella emcees this year's Chef Challenge |
From our friends at the Citi Open...
Citi Open Tournament Serves Up Food and Cocktail Competitions
Top DC chefs battle it out courtside in heated culinary challenge
The celebrated owner and chef of Graffiato, Mike Isabella, will emcee the Citi Open® Tournament annual Chef Challenge on Thursday, July 31, featuring Marjorie Meek-Bradley of Ripple and Roofers Union, Argentinian Embassy chef Diego Biondi and Victor Albisu, two-time defending champion of the competition and owner of Del Campo.
Food enthusiasts are invited to watch the chefs race against the clock to create culinary masterpieces using preselected ingredients. The event will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Courtside Hospitality Tent at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center, located at 16th & Kennedy Streets NW in Rock Creek Park. Tickets can be purchased here for $85 each and include food and drinks during the event as well as a ticket to Session 6 of the Citi Open Tournament. Among the celebrity judges are Charles de Bournet Marnier Lapostolle, CEO of Perigee Spirits and maker of KAPPA Pisco; Tommy McFly, Fresh 94.7 FM radio personality; Laura Hayes, a writer for Dining Bisnow and Thrillist; and Lauren DeSantis, the host of “Capital Cooking.”
On the following night, Friday, Aug. 1, top mixologists and bartenders from Cashion’s, Cuba Libre, Del Campo, RiRa and Tonic will go head-to-head to create unique, crowd-pleasing drinks to win audience votes. The Grand Marnier Craft Cocktail Happy Hour will be from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Courtside Hospitality Tent. During the competition, guests can sample the tournament’s signature cocktail, Match Point - an adult twist on an Arnold Palmer, made with KAPPA Pisco - and a variety of hors d’oeuvres. A ticket, which includes a lower-level seat to Session 8 of the Citi Open Tournament, can be purchased here for $65. This year, for the first time, purchasers of tickets for the tournament’s special events are able to upgrade to a single-session box seat for an additional fee.
Two of the top 10 in the ATP World Tour are set to play in the Nation’s Capital Tennis Tradition: Tomas Berdych (No. 5) of the Czech Republic and Canada’s Milos Raonic (No. 6). The superb men’s field also includes players just outside of the top 10 - Japan’s top player, Kei Nishikori (No. 11); top American and 2013 Citi Open® runner-up John Isner (No. 12); and top French player Richard Gasquet (No. 14). Kevin Anderson (No. 17) and Feliciano Lopez (No. 25) round out the men’s singles field in the top 25. On the women’s side, Americans Madison Keys (No. 27) and Sloane Stephens (No. 22) will play in the main draw. The doubles field will be headlined by world No. 1 team Bob and Mike Bryan.
The Citi Open® Tournament is part of the prestigious Emirates Airline US Open Series, the summer tennis season that links eight North American hard-court tournaments to the final Grand Slam of the year, the US Open. The men’s tournament is one of only 11 elite ATP World Tour 500-level events worldwide, making it one of the top 20 tournaments in the world, and the only one held in the United States. It also features a WTA International Tournament, one of only two in the United States. The tournament’s owner and beneficiary, the Washington Tennis & Education Foundation (WTEF), provides underserved children in the D.C. area with a safe environment to learn critical life skills both on and off the court through academic and athletic enrichment.
For more information, visit the Citi Open® Tournament on the Web at www.citiopentennis.com. Citi Open® Tournament is a Lagardere Unlimited production. Citi Open® is a registered service mark of Citigroup Inc.
