The World Food Championships finals are coming to Indianapolis

Update Oct. 21: The Indiana team that competed at the 2019 World Food Championships in October did not score enough points to be in finals coming to Indianapolis in 2020. 

Justin Miller, chef at Anthony’s Chophouse in Carmel, did take 7th place in the World Recipe Championship. Silver medalists included Turon Cummings of Whiting, in the World Burger Championship, and Jennifer Norem of Knox, in the Bacon World Championship. 

Original story:

When Indianapolis chefs Craig Baker and Ben Hardy won the 2017 World Food Championships semifinals in Alabama, they next had to travel to New Orleans for the finals. If they advance this year, they will battle for the gold back home in Indiana.

Baker and Hardy, who co-owns Gallery Pastry Shop, are among a team of Hoosier chefs competing against hundreds of home and professional cooks from across America and 12 countries in the 2019 World Food Championships semifinals. The week-long event concludes Oct. 20 in Dallas.

Ten semifinalists will move on to the Final Table event set for May in Indianapolis.

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“Indianapolis is simply an exciting place to be in today’s culinary world and one of the premier hospitality cities in the country,” World Food Championships President Mike McCloud said of his decision to bring the finals here.

Planning for Final Table events in Indianapolis has just begun. Stay tuned for details.

The World Food Championships, produced by MMA Creative, is a tournament where cooks of all levels compete side-by-side in one, sometimes more, of 10 categories: bacon, barbecue, burgers, chili, dessert, sandwich, seafood, steak, best recipe and best chef. Attendees watch the cooking action live while judges ranging from food writers to professional chefs rate dishes.

More than 1,500 cooks are vying in Dallas to reach the Final Table, where the ultimate champion will be awarded $100,000.

Cooks qualify to compete in the World Food Championships by earning a culinary award from a publication, receiving a special invitation or wining sanctioned local cooking contests. For instance, Downtown Indianapolis’ Spoke & Steele chef Erin Gillum earned a golden ticket to enter the 2019 semifinals sandwich category after winning the people’s choice award at the annual Indy Burger Battle this past summer.

Gillum, Baker and Hardy are in Dallas this week as part of Team Indiana, an offshoot of Indiana’s new Culinary Crossroads initiative. The organization showcases the state’s delicious assets, whether they be restaurants, artisan food products, fancy cocktails or local produce.

Besides competing in the World Food Championships, Team Indiana members have appeared at the Indiana State Fair and on local television and radio news shows.

Culinary Crossroads was launched this year by Larry Dickerson, an Indianapolis marketing professional who has worked in travel and tourism promotion. He was inspired to create Culinary Crossroads and Team Indiana after witnessing his son and other Indiana cooks compete at the 2018 World Food Championships in Orange Beach, Alabama.

Team Indiana is funded by private sponsors but also Indiana Grown, a statewide branding initiative by the Indiana Department of Agriculture.

“Indiana has played host to the largest sporting events in the world, and we take great pride in being the state where champions are crowned,” said Indiana Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, who is also at the World Food Championships this week.

Follow IndyStar food writer Liz Biro on Twitter: @lizbiro, Instagram: @lizbiro, and on Facebook. Call her at 317-444-6264.