Judging the 10th Annual Latke Competition

I recently served as a celebrity judge at the 10th Annual Latke Competition at the beautiful Brooklyn Museum. This delicious event was organized by Great Performances Catering and celebrated the best and most creative potato pancakes in New York City. This festival has served over 100,000 latkes in the last ten years and always takes place during Hanukkah.

Traditionally latkes are made with just russet potatoes, eggs, salt, pepper, and grated onions, however at this festival chefs put creative spins on the traditional dish. I tasted latkes with kimchi, tuna niçoise, mango chutney, and yucca. There were also sweet versions of the dish featuring powdered sugar, pumpkin filling, and whipped cream, to name a few. 

Participating restaurants included popular spots like Jacob’s Pickles, White Tiger, Benchmark, Bricolage, Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola, Dutch Boy Burger, FryGuys, Kulushkat, The Norm, Riss’s Knishes, Shelsky’s of Brooklyn and Veselka. 

There were a variety of prizes to win — attendees determined the "People's Choice" Best Latke, while myself and other judges (food experts and influencers from NYC) determined the "Judges' Choice" Best Latke. For the first time this year there was also a Judges' Choice Most Creative and a Best Traditional prize. Eating alongside me were Debi Mazar and her celebrity chef husband Gabriele Corcos, both hosts of the Food Channel's Extra Virgin, David Berliner, president and COO of the Brooklyn Museum, and Alexis Mayyasi, editor-in-chief of Gastro Obscura.

Aside from food there were also great drinks, of course, such as cocktails, wine, beer courtesy of partners like Tito's Vodka, City Winery, Shmaltz Brew and GuS Grown-Up Soda.

All net proceeds of the event went to The Sylvia Center, a nonprofit dedicated to teaching healthy eating habits to children and their families. They have programs in both New York City and at Katchkie Farm in Kinderhook, NY.

Here is a clip of the competition (with a brief appearance by yours truly) on the Today Show.