'Top Chef' winner Kelsey Barnard Clark to cook at sold-out Wilmington event

Patricia Talorico
The News Journal

Kelsey Barnard Clark, who took home the title of "Top Chef" on the Bravo TV culinary competition series that concluded its 16th season Thursday night, will be cooking April 13 at the Wilmington Country Club.

The 6 to 10 p.m. event, known as the Meals on Wheels Delaware’s Cellar Masters' Wine Auction, is already sold out. There is a wait list, according to the website.

"Top Chef " winner Kelsey Barnard Clark is cooking at the Wilmington Country Club on April 13. The dinner is sold out, but there is a wait list.

Clark, who runs KBC, a restaurant and catering company in Alabama, impressed "Top Chef" judges all season with her creative, modern takes on classical Southern dishes.

She beat 14 other contestants, including two from Philadelphia: Eddie Konrad, chef de cuisine at Laurel Restaurant, and Natalie Maronski, chef/owner of Underground Concepts.

Clark, of Dothan, Alabama, was originally scheduled to be one of the chefs cooking a day later for the 22nd annual Sunday Meals on Wheels celebrity brunch held at the DuPont Country Club at 1001 Rockland Road.

The April 14 fundraiser is open to the public and tickets remain. Admission ranges from $75, a "young professional" rate for those younger than 35, and up to $175 for a VIP ticket that gets diners in at 11 a.m. instead of 11:30. General admission is $125.

Regina Dodds, director of events, said Clark was recently moved to the Saturday Wine Auction event. Tickets for the four-course meal that's paired with wines are pricey. Seats for last year's event were $250 each.

The popular Meals on Wheels Sunday brunch has had a few celebrity chef changes since the 2019 lineup was first unveiled. Former "Top Chef" contestant John Tesar, a Dallas chef who has been cooking for the event since 2016, had to back out of the brunch when he realized he was double-booked, Dodds said. 

And Marco Island, Florida, chef Gerald Sombright, who also was a 2016 "Top Chef" contestant, also had to cancel.

The April 14 Sunday brunch, a walk-around event from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., features local and national celebrity chefs offering small plates of dishes they have cooked. This year's Honorary Chairman is Alex Seidel, a James Beard Award-winning chef/restaurateur from Denver. 

In 2018, Seidel won a Beard Award for Best Chef: Southwest. He owns the restaurants Fruition and Mercantile Dining & Provision. Seidel participated in the brunch last year.

Some other celebrity chefs appearing this year include "Top Chef" contestant Carrie Baird, who competed on the series' 15th season and also cooked at the brunch in 2018, "Iron Chef Gauntlet" competitor David LeFevre, and "Beat Bobby Flay" winner Robbie Jester of Newark's Stone Balloon Ale House.

The lineup also includes: Paul Bachand of Recipe Part Deux in Oregon, Justin Carlisle of Ardent Restaurant in Milwaukee, Canada chef Michael Blackie of Next, Kenny Curry-Keith of Wilmington's Tonic Bar & Grille, Hari Cameron of Rehoboth's a(MUSE.), Pat D'Amico of Philadelphia's Chez Ben, Don Drake of Charleston's Magnolias, Brandon Foster of Project Angel Heart in Denver, Michael Heaps of Wilmington's Harry’s Hospitality Group, Dana Herbert of Desserts by Dana in Newark, David LeFevre of California's Manhattan Beach Post, Anthony Marini
of AMI Group Hospitality in Philadelphia, the Hotel DuPont's Keith Miller, Deb Paquette
of Etch and etc. Restaurants in Nashville, Domaine Hudson's Chris Rauber, Paul C. Reilly of Denver's Beast + Bottle, Jose Salazar of Salazar Restaurant in Cincinnati, Wilmington's Lee Slaninko of Sweet Somethings and Cassy Vires of
Winslow’s Home in St. Louis.

Other chefs cooking for this year's four-course April 13 meal at the Wilmington Country Club include Philadelphia's Jose Garces, Ilma Lopez of Piccolo in Portland, Maine, and Valeria M. Molinelli of Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island.

About 900 diners are expected at the Sunday brunch. Admission includes food, wine, cocktails and live entertainment. 

Meals On Wheels Delaware is a nonprofit organization that in 2017 served 706,000 meals to 4,360 homebound seniors.

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Contact Patricia Talorico at (302) 324-2861 or ptalorico@delawareonline.com and on Twitter @pattytalorico