In the fifth annual Million Pound Party, hosted by Hole Food Rescue, The Whistling Grizzly’s chef Matthew Viereck took home the trophy among the competing local chefs. Each year, this community meal celebrates food, brings awareness to food waste and fosters a sense of community—served alongside a dose of friendly competition.
When asked about his motivation to enter the competition, Viereck said, “I love to compete and I knew it was for a good cause as well, so I figured it would be a win-win no matter what.” Tickets to the event contribute to Hole Food Rescue’s continued efforts to reduce food waste and food insecurity in Teton County.
The family-friendly—and zero waste—event held on the Center for the Arts lawn may be food-focused, but it also includes live entertainment and activities. This year’s event also commemorated Hole Food Rescue’s ten-year anniversary. In its ten years of operations, the organization has rescued and redistributed over two million pounds of food waste!
In previous years, the Million Pound Party’s competition element pitted local chefs against one another in a pig roast cook-off for the “Golden Pig Award.” This year, however, the chefs were invited to cook an array of dishes. The competing chefs included Manuel Fernandez, of Amangani; Julie Biederman Hession, of Peanut Butter & Julie; Juan Morales, of Morales Home Made; Austin O’Bryhim, a private chef; Jared Pill, of Four Seasons Jackson Hole; and Matthew Viereck, of The Whistling Grizzly. Each attendee was given one vote to cast for their favorite dish.
“My approach was to just keep it simple, and to do a familiar dish that I was well-versed in,” Vierneck recalls. “The most challenging aspect was to serve over five hundred people in the span of three hours, and the fact that it was my first competition ever.”
Vierneck prepared two dishes for the event: a salad he calls the Astoria Salad, and Cowboy Short Rib Pops. The salad was a vibrant medley of rainbow kale, blueberries, apples, candied pecans, blue cheese, Shumway Farms Lemon Skyr, and pom gastrique was bright, crisp and full of flavor. The short ribs, which Vierneck says have always been well-received since he came up with the dish in his early twenties, were served with a jalapeno cilantro lime slaw and au-jus. “They were looking for someone to do a vegetarian option, and I knew that not many people were signing up to do the vegetarian option,” the chef explains, “So I decided to do both a vegetarian and meat option. And the two complimented each other—there was a little bit of spice on the meat, and then the salad cooled everything off.”
Between cooking and plating, the event was a whirlwind for all the chefs involved. Vierneck remembers, “My head was down the entire time, so I didn’t really get to engage with each guest, but I heard a lot of good feedback and then there were a lot of people wanting to come back for seconds.” When he was crowned the winner, Vierneck says, “I was just so stoked, and so excited because, again, being a first-time participant and the event being my first competition ever… it was very validating. It was another chance for our restaurant to get our name out there as well, and I felt super proud of our team. It took every bit of everyone’s help to pull this off.” Keeping with the zero waste theme of the event, Viernack vowed—prior to the competition—to Hole Food Rescue that he would donate the cash prize back to the organization, should he be victorious.
Given his competitive spirit, and the success of his first competition, Vierneck says he’d be open to competing in future food competitions in Jackson: “If I hear about it and find myself in the right position, and with the right amount of time to prepare, I would definitely enter more competitions.” For now, patrons of The Whistling Grizzly will see Vierneck’s trophy proudly on display—a formidable cleaver designed by New West Knifeworks. “The trophy is awesome,” Vierneck adds. “We just have to keep it out of reach of children… and curious adults at the restaurant.”
