Judges

Kortnee opened Butch + Babes, a community pub in the Old North End, in December.  Fondly named after her grandparents Rich “Butch” + Marlene “Babe” Lelko, the two gave Kortnee her first taste of the food business through their banquet and catering endeavors on the south side of Chicago.  Previously, she worked as a cook for the Burlington School Food Project while developing a program teaching New Americans to cook in commercial kitchens with the Association of Africans Living in Vermont.  She attended the International Culinary Center in NYC while working under NYC greats Eli Zabar and Mary Cleaver, as well as served the guests of Twin Farms, a five-star resort in Barnard, VT.

Steven is a regional Food Service Manager for The Abbey Group. He began his culinary training as a young boy under his father, Phil Learned, CEC, AAC at The Balsams Grand Resort Hotel in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire. After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park he earned a Bachelors in Hospitality Management from Florida International University.  Steven earned his first Executive Chef opportunity at the age of 23 while in Washington, DC, at the Park Terrace Hotel.  After working for the Radisson and DoubleTree Hotel companies in the DC area, he moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, where he became Executive Chef for Gibson’s American Grill, a new restaurant concept in the early stages of development.  He returned to The Balsams in 1998 as Executive Chef.  Over the next 11 years Steven oversaw culinary operations, helped run the nationally recognized Apprenticeship Program, and coached the student culinary competition team.  Since leaving the Balsams in 2009, he has taught Culinary Arts at White Mountain Community College, worked as Food and Beverage Director at The Jordan Grand Resort Hotel at Sunday River, and worked as a freelance caterer.  He spends his summers running the dining operations for Wyonegonic Camp for Girls in Denmark, Maine.

Growing up on a 100 year-old apple orchard and sheep farm in Essex, Vermont, meant an early appreciation of Vermont-grown food for Grace. As the Communications and Membership Coordinator for the Vermont Fresh Network, Grace works with a network of Vermont’s most innovative culinary and agricultural professionals to advance Vermont-grown food markets. Grace is honored to judge at the Jr Iron Chef competition and excited to see what the future top chefs of Vermont have been cooking up!   

Joyce is a freelance food and health writer and cookbook author, and teaches writing at the University of Vermont. She recently served as a board member of Common Roots, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting healthy local food and food education in South Burlington schools. But her proudest work experience was being Team Mom for the SBHS Rebel Chefs team for five wonderful years!

Breana is an associate food editor at EatingWell where she splits her time among EatingWell magazine, eatingwell.com and cooking new healthy recipes in the Test Kitchen. Breana has a master's degree in public health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu London, is a Wine Spirit & Education Trust-trained sommelier and is a registered dietitian.

Doug was born and raised in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. He spent many long hours outdoors, hunting, fishing, hiking, and biking. He feels fortunate to have been guided by chefs who allowed him to be creative and find his own path. Doug feels very connected to Vermont’s ever growing food community. One of his favorite things to do as a chef is to visit farmers, bakers, cheese makers, and other food producers so he can see how they do things. When he's not in the kitchen Doug enjoys spending time with his family as well as hunting for wild mushrooms.

Ali is the Farm to School Coordinator at the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets. She works with local food procurement in state government, the state workplace CSA, and other farm to institution initiatives. Before coming to the agency, Ali worked for UVM Extension, where she coordinated a young farmer business development program- the Center for Sustainable Agriculture's Youth Ag IDA Program. Ali has worked for a long list of food and farm organizations in Vermont. She spent 7 years driving a school bus in Connecticut, before finishing her undergraduate career. During her career as a bus driver, Ali spent two seasons working on a diversified, organic vegetable farm, in her hometown of Ridgefield, CT. During her tenure in Connecticut, she also established an urban community garden in downtown Danbury, CT. She came to Vermont in 2010 as a VHCB Farm Viability intern, while she was finishing her undergrad at Smith College, and never left. After working for VHCB, she did work for the Farm to Plate report, American Farmland Trust, Vermont Immigration and Asylum Advocates, and many other organizations. Ali lives in Burlington, and loves traveling the state to learn what students are doing to incorporate agriculture into their school day.

Jeffrey has been involved with agriculture and food security in Vermont for the past 15 years. He currently farms with his wife on Peace of Earth Farm in Albany, VT where they grow a variety of veggies, fruits, and rotationally-grazed animals. They are a small permaculture based, no-till, diversified farm. Their farm is now partnering with a local school to install a perennial food forest this coming spring. Jeffrey has also been involved with a few food cooperatives as a member, produce manager, and board member around Vermont. He is currently at the Buffalo Mountain Food Coop in Hardwick, co-managing the produce department. Encouraging people to eat a more seasonal diet is his focus and he offers year-round cooking classes with local ingredients. He is also a lyrical artist and uses this skill to speak about food justice and caring for the Earth. Jeffrey organizes an all-ages spoken word/hip hop open mic called WORD!CRAFT. He is looking forward to being a judge for such an amazing event! 
 

Maraika is a freshman at the University of Minnesota. She was a member of the Rebel Chefs Jr Iron Chef VT team from 8th grade until last year as a senior and was fortunate enough to win four years in a row with her amazing teammates. Now, she studies Marketing and Journalism, likes to read, listen to music, and take advantage of the amazing city of Minneapolis’ foodie scene. She would like to wish all the competitors luck this year, and is excited to experience competition from the other side of things!

Lauren is currently the Research and Development Specialist / Chocolatier at Lake Champlain Chocolates in Burlington, VT, where she develops recipes and works with chocolate every day. She is a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY. Apart from chocolate, she enjoys connecting with friends, reading, traveling, rock climbing, running, and cooking.