Skip to content
 
Achievement Academy held its seventh annual Top Chef of Polk County event on Monday, May 17, 2021, at each of the ten participating chefs’ restaurants. Thank you to each Chef, Community Leader, Sponsor, and Attendee for making this year’s Top Chef of Polk County one of our best – raising more than $190,000 for children with special needs.     This year’s participating chefs and their community leaders included:   Chef Brandon Bailey, The Back Nine and Crystal Goffe, Swan City Title   Chef Jason Boniface, Cob & Pen and Karli Hughes, 4-D Engineering   Chef Tina Calhoon, Frescos Southern Kitchen & Bar and Cory Neupauer, Lakeland Automall   Chef Lucy Cortes-Castaneda, Red Door Lakeland and Alice Koehler, Iron Horse Family Foundation   Chef Gene Gelb, Publix Aprons Catering & Cooking School and Patrick Spinosa, AgAmerica Lending   Chef Scott Greenlee, Patio850 and Mac Miller, AgAmerica Lending   Chef Richard Hoert, Terrie Lobb Catering, Inc. and Adam Riley, Ewing, Blackwelder & Duce Insurance   Chef Josh Lawley, Craft + Kitchen and Devindra Ramdehal, MYBOX   Chef Casey Ryan, 1916 Irish Pub and Chris McGarvey, Wall Titus, LLC   Chef Abigale Weech-Starkey, The Chop Shop and Kelsey O’Neal, Artistic General Contracting   The Chefs and Community Leaders raised a total of $107,003.92, with Chef Gene Gelb, Publix Aprons Catering & Cooking School and Community Leader Patrick Spinosa, AgAmerica Lending winning the Top Philanthropic Award. The professional judges, Chef Dennis Garcia, Chef Chris Trimborn, and Chef Adam Walkover tasted each chef’s signature dish. The 2021 Top Chef of Polk County Award went to Chef Tina Calhoon with Frescos Southern Kitchen & Bar!   Chef Calhoon’s winning dish was adobo marinated Angus filet with foi gras on top of a poblano bacon potato cake, crowned with shrimp and garnished with black raspberry BBQ sauce. Regarding this year’s event, Chef Calhoon stated, “I am honored to win this year’s Top Chef of Polk County award. Over the years, Frescos has held the Top Philanthropic award five times, Top Chef Peoples’ Choice award, Best Dessert award, and now the 2021 Top Chef of Polk County. As the first female chef to win this award, it is a great honor to represent the Achievement Academy in all that they do to better the lives of these beautiful children. When it came to our menu, I chose to stay true to Frescos’ southern roots.”     Chef Tina Calhoon with Frescos Southern Kitchen & Bar accepts the 2021 Top Chef of Polk County Award! Pictured left to right are Jim Calhoon, Chef Chris Trimborn, Chef Tina Calhoon, and Chef Adam Walkover.  

Chef Tina Calhoon’s winning signature dish. Community Leader Patrick Spinosa with AgAmerica Lending, and Chef Gene Gelb with Publix Aprons Catering & Cooking School, accepts the 2021 Top Philanthropic Award!   A special thank you to our sponsors!   Exclusive Presenting Sponsor   Participating Chef Sponsor       Master Chef Sponsor     Head Chef Sponsors     Sous Chef Sponsors       Senator Kelli Stargel Dessert Sponsor   John and Deborah Weber Sauté Sponsors   Alexander and Chandra Frederick Interstate Batteries of Lakeland Lakeland Electric Luke Markham and the law firm of Johnson Pope Mulling Insurance Agency Norse Metals Rodda Construction, Inc. Saddle Creek Logistics Services Summit Wall Titus Our Contact Information Achievement Academy 716 E. Bella Vista St
Lakeland, FL 33805 (863) 683-6504 https://achievementacademy.com/   Unsubscribe | Manage email preferences
Scroll To Top