Two North Lake Tahoe chefs will bring their ultimate A-game to this year’s Lake Tahoe Autumn Food and Wine Festival, as the Blazing Pans Mountain Chef title is once again on the line.

Jacques Cornelis, executive chef at the four-star Resort at Squaw Creek, will defend his title against Mike Trombetta, who recently launched the Farm to Belly personal chef service. The clock starts ticking for the edge-of-your-seat, mouth-watering cook-off Saturday, Sept. 6 at the Village at Northstar.

The one-hour competition will entail both chefs taking one main, secret ingredient and creating as many delicious dishes as possible in the allotted time. Cornelis and Trobetta will not know what the main ingredient is until the clock starts ticking.

Past secret ingredients have included mackinaw, lamb and foie gras. Both chefs will also be supplied with a complete pantry of kitchen staples and fresh produce. Celebrity chef Joseph Keller will emcee the spicy competition.

Cornelis had the edge on Chef Chris Banovich last year when the secret ingredient was unveiled to be none other than a preferred staple of his. "I got very lucky with the foie gras,” he said. “It’s one of my all-time favorites.”

In addition to claiming the Blazing Pans Champion title, Cornelis boasts an extensive resume of international experience. He has been with the Resort at Squaw Creek since 2000 and oversees all food operations and menus from the upscale Ristorante Montagna to the laid back Sandy’s Pub. Cornelis began his career at the De Watermolen in Belgium (a one-star Michelin property) and has worked in Belgium and France before he became chef de cuisine for Le Cordon Bleu in Dania, Florida.

Cornelis will defend his Blazing Pans title from relative newcomer Mike Trombetta. Trombetta, who has lived in North Lake Tahoe since 1999, recently launched Farm to Belly, a personal chef service. A graduate of the New England Culinary Institute, Trombetta’s love for food began in Rhode Island, where he spent youthful summers picking lobsters from the docks and fishing off his uncle’s boat. He was most recently the executive chef for Christy Hill in Tahoe City and took home the People’s Choice Gold Medal for Best Food at last year’s Grand Tasting and Culinary Competition.

The Blazing Pans Mountain Chef Cook-Off begins at 4 p.m. Tickets for the event cost $15. For more information about the Lake Tahoe Autumn Food and Wine Festival, call 888-229-2193 or go to www.tahoefoodandwine.com.

About the Lake Tahoe Autumn Food & Wine Festival
The Lake Tahoe Autumn Food and Wine Festival is a fundraiser for the Community Fund of North Lake Tahoe through the 501c(3) Truckee Tahoe Community Foundation. The 23rd annual festival is produced by the North Lake Tahoe Resort Association in partnership with Northstar at Tahoe; the Northstar Foundation; Ritz-Carlton Club, Lake Tahoe and Sunset magazine; Audi; Standards of Excellence; Nothing to It Culinary Center in Reno; Montreux Golf and Country Club; Charbay Vodka; and Tahoe Quarterly.

North Lake Tahoe is a 45-minute drive from the Reno Tahoe International Airport, two hours from Sacramento International Airport and just over three hours from San Francisco International Airport. The North Lake Tahoe Visitors Bureaus, Incline Village Crystal Bay Visitors Bureau and the North Lake Tahoe Resort Association, work together to promote North Lake Tahoe as a premier, year-round destination.