Taste of Muskingum Chefs Compete Nov. 4 to Back Food Entrepreneurs in Zanesville

Local chefs will serve tasting samples and compete for the title of Muskingum County’s Top Chef when the eighth annual Taste of Muskingum Chef Competition returns on November 4 at Weatherington Woods in Zanesville, according to a community announcement published by the Zanesville Times Recorder.

The evening is a fundraiser for FoodWorks Alliance, and guests — not a panel of judges — will vote for the winner, according to the announcement. The event also includes a silent auction, a wine pull, games, prizes and entertainment, making it part tasting night, part community gathering and part benefit.

Proceeds support FoodWorks Alliance programs for aspiring food entrepreneurs and small food businesses, according to the announcement. The organization provides affordable access to a licensed commercial kitchen, business guidance and opportunities to grow — the kind of shared kitchen space that often decides whether a home baker, food truck hopeful or sauce maker can legally take the next step.

That kitchen access matters in a county where a new restaurant opening is big news — Zanesville is also counting down to its first Chick-fil-A, opening November 5 — but where many food businesses start far smaller, with a family recipe, a farmers market table and a need for licensed space to prepare food for sale.

FoodWorks Alliance also works in food education, food recovery and workforce development, according to the announcement. Its Recovery With a Purpose program helps women in recovery develop kitchen and life skills, build confidence and make community connections — training that pairs a practical trade with the support network that recovery requires.

That second-chances mission is in the event’s own framing: the Times Recorder announcement billed the night as a celebration of “food, entrepreneurship and second chances.” Every ticket supports both ends of that mission at once — the entrepreneur renting kitchen time to launch a business, and the woman in recovery learning the skills to join the workforce.

Individual and group tickets are available, and advance purchase is required, according to the announcement. Ticket and event information is at foodworksalliance.betterworld.org/taste-muskingum.

People who cannot attend can still support the fundraiser by donating silent auction items, gift cards or Ohio-made wines, the announcement said. Donation information is available by contacting [email protected].

The competition format keeps the focus on the chefs cooking in the room: guests taste across the field, compare notes and cast their votes for Muskingum County’s Top Chef before the night ends. For the competing chefs, the title is a year of bragging rights in a small, tight-knit local food scene — and a room full of potential new customers.

Events like Taste of Muskingum do double duty for a small nonprofit. A ticket buys a night out in Zanesville, but it also buys hours in a licensed kitchen for someone testing whether a cottage recipe can become a business, and it buys training time for participants in Recovery With a Purpose who are rebuilding a work history one shift at a time, according to the program descriptions in the announcement.

The silent auction and wine pull extend that support beyond the people in the room. Auction items and Ohio-made wines donated by local businesses and supporters turn into bids and raffle-style purchases through the evening, and the announcement invites anyone who cannot attend to contribute items, gift cards or wine so the fundraiser is not limited to ticket holders.

Eight years in, the competition has also become a fixture on Muskingum County’s fall calendar — a night when the county’s chefs cook side by side in one room, guests compare tastings across the field, and the county’s food community, from established kitchens to first-year entrepreneurs working out of the FoodWorks kitchen, is visible in a single place.

What happens next is the event itself: doors open November 4 at Weatherington Woods, the tastings begin, and by the end of the night Zanesville will have a new Top Chef and FoodWorks Alliance will have new funding for the kitchen, training and recovery programs its proceeds support. Advance tickets are required, so anyone planning to go should book before the day arrives — and anyone who wants to help from home can still donate an auction item, a gift card or a bottle of Ohio-made wine.

Photo: David Brossard, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons