SAVE THE DATE FOR NICKY USA’S 16TH ANNUAL WILD ABOUT GAME

The Pacific Northwest’s premiere specialty game cooking competition returns for “Sweet 16” event on October 2, 2016 at the Resort at the Mountain on the slopes of Mt. Hood

Nicky USA is excited to announce the 2016 lineup for the 16th Annual Wild About Game, the friendly but fierce annual cooking battle between Portland and Seattle’s best and brightest chefs. This year’s cooking competition and celebration of specialty game will be held at the Resort at the Mountain in Welches, Ore., on Sunday, October 2, 2016. At Wild About Game, Nicky Farms proteins, the house brand at Nicky USA, will be prepared by some of the region’s best chefs, as the Pacific Northwest’s favorite specialty meat purveyor hosts the event to thank their loyal customers and suppliers, farmers, artisans and restaurants.

During this meat-centric culinary event in the Pacific Northwest, four chefs from Portland and four chefs from Seattle will go head-to-head in a cooking competition in four different game meat-based categories. Each dish is presented to a panel of renowned culinary experts and attendees for judging. Guests will also be able to sample each chef’s dish and vote for their favorite.

This year’s competing chefs for the Portland vs. Seattle battle are:

Portland

Erik Van Kley, Taylor Railworks

Earl Ninsom, PaaDee/Langbaan

Troy MacLarty, Bollywood Theater

Kasey Mills, Mediterranean Exploration Company

Seattle

Edouardo Jordan, Salare

Seth Fernald, Novelty Hill Januik Winery

Taylor Thornhill, Bateau

Jesse Elliot, Witness

One chef will win in each category for their respective city, with one chef taking home the ultimate Nicky USA’s Wild About Game title. Past winners of the event include Gabriel Rucker of Le Pigeon, Gregory Denton of Ox, Aaron Barnett of St. Jack, Nathan Lockwood of Altura Restaurant, and Shane Ryan of Matt’s in the Market. Last year’s winner was chef Carlo Lamagna of Clyde Common with his winning dish of Nicky Farms Rabbit Arroz Caldo.

Nicky USA’s Wild About Game will also include the Artisan Marketplace, where the region’s favorite small-batch producers sample their products, including artisan salts, cheeses, chocolates, ice cream, spirits, wine, beer, Nicky Farms proteins, and samples of specialty meat products in the Nicky USA lineup. Attendees can taste these items, and talk with the chefs, artisans and producers who create them. This event allows attendees to get up close and personal with some of the biggest names in the Northwest’s food community.

Tickets will be $69 per person in advance, and $79 at the door, and will go on sale on July 5th, 2016. Please visit http://www.nickyusa.com/wag for upcoming ticket and event information.

About Nicky USA

Founded in 1990, Nicky USA is the Northwest’s leading butcher and purveyor of specialty game and high quality meat. The Portland-based company has forged relationships with local and international ranchers, as well as James Beard Award-winning chefs in an effort to make game a mainstay of specialty markets and fine restaurants. Nicky USA recently developed a specialty line of products under their Nicky Farms brand. With the recent purchase of their very own 35.9-acre farm in Aurora, Ore., owner Geoff Latham is now able to raise game for Nicky USA and host friends and customers. The company has built one of the nation’s only mobile processing units (MPU) for the sustainable and humane processing of animals, specially designed to process both poultry and hooved animals, making it the only USDA-compliant unit of its kind allowing complete control of the process from field to table. Aside from selling specialty game and high quality meat, Nicky USA hosts Wild About Game every autumn, an annual head-to-head cooking competition and the meatiest culinary celebration in the Northwest, celebrating high quality meat and specialty game. Nicky USA expanded in 2013 with a second location in Seattle. Orders for either location can be made by calling 1.800.469.4162. For more information, visit www.nickyusa.com. Follow @NickyUSA on Twitter and Facebook, and @Nicky.USA on Instagram, as well as #NickyFarms on all channels. To learn more about Nicky USA and Nicky Farms, view the 25th anniversary video here.

 

About Nicky Farms

Nicky Farms is the house brand of Nicky USA. Nicky Farms products include Northwest raised rabbit, quail, elk, venison, goat, water buffalo, chicken and American bison. They can be found on the menus of the Northwest’s best restaurants and the shelves of leading retailers such as New Seasons Markets, World Foods, Zupan’s Markets, Metropolitan Market, and Central Co-Op. For more information, visit: www.nickyusa.com/nicky-farms