{"id":25027,"date":"2015-02-17T13:11:32","date_gmt":"2015-02-17T18:11:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/?p=25027"},"modified":"2017-12-18T10:50:16","modified_gmt":"2017-12-18T15:50:16","slug":"fiu-business-student-cooks-up-a-winning-burger-to-showcase-at-sobewff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/2015\/02\/fiu-business-student-cooks-up-a-winning-burger-to-showcase-at-sobewff\/","title":{"rendered":"FIU Business student cooks up a winning burger to showcase at SOBEWFF."},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Alex<\/a>
Alex Bello<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

FIU marketing major Alex Bello is about to put his hamburger creation up against the best in the world.<\/p>\n

Bello took home the Golden Robin award in Red Robin\u2019s annual burger contest. After beating out 152 entries, the spicy\u00a0Buffalo Mac \u2018N Cheesy Burger will be ready to taste this weekend at the annual Food\u00a0Network & Cooking Channel\u00a0South Beach Wine\u00a0&\u00a0Food\u00a0Festival presented by\u00a0Food & Wine, which benefits FIU\u2019s Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management.<\/p>\n

The Buffalo Mac \u2018N Cheesy Burger will make its grand entrance at the Amstel Light \u201cBurger Bash\u201d on February 20<\/span><\/span>. During the event, burger virtuosos from near and far will compete for the \u201cBest of the Bash\u201d title. A panel of judges, including Red Robin executives and celebrity chef Marc Murphy, of Food Network\u2019s \u201cChopped\u201d, will select the winner. Now in its 14th\u00a0year, SOBEWFF is hosted by Southern Wine & Spirits of Florida and FIU\u2019s Chaplin School.”<\/p>\n

Leading up to the February 19-22 event, Red Robin challenged FIU students to submit a recipe for their best rendition of a pub-inspired, Tavern Double burger.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlex\u2019s recipe for Red Robin\u2019s Golden Robin Contest features the combination of two American classics \u2013 burgers and mac \u2018n cheese \u2013 mixed with the spicy kick of Buffalo sauce to make up one delicious menu creation,\u201d said Dana Benfield, vice president of engagement marketing at Red Robin.<\/p>\n

In addition to burger bragging rights, Bello, a senior, won a $10,000 scholarship and the chance for his creation to be featured for a limited time on the menu at some Red Robin restaurants.<\/p>\n

Volunteering at Chaplin School leads student to culinary creativity. <\/em><\/p>\n

Bello learned about the Red Robin contest while he was working at the Chaplin School recruiting ambassadors and volunteers for SOBEWFF.<\/p>\n

\u201cI found it a cool mix between the business and culinary worlds,\u201d added Bello, who will graduate from the College of Business in December 2015. He has no formal culinary training but likes to be inventive in the kitchen. \u201cThis shows that anyone can be creative and think outside the box. It\u2019s kind of funny because you wouldn\u2019t have expected me to apply; I guess it was meant to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

The prized burger features two fire-grilled beef patties topped with Red Robin\u2019s Mac \u2018N Cheesy, melted Muenster cheese, Heinz\u00ae<\/sup> Buffalo Wing Sauce and Ranch dressing on a toasted sesame seed bun.<\/p>\n

So how did Bello come up with the mac \u2018n cheese on burger idea? He checked out Red Robin\u2019s menu to identify easy-to-make dishes and put them together.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to make something that would stand out to someone reading or hearing the menu,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s something creative and sounds good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mohammad Qureshi, associate dean, Facilities & Operations for the Chaplin School, said that this is the third annual Red Robin Golden Robin Burger Scholarship Contest.<\/p>\n

The restaurant\u2019s team helps promote and judge the contest. Once the FIU entries were received, three culinary faculty members selected the top 25 and submitted those to Red Robin. The Red Robin team then picked the top 10 burgers, each one was cooked and the winner was selected.<\/p>\n

\u201cRed Robin\u2019s goal was to develop a gastro-pub burger,\u201d said Qureshi. \u201cAlex made it simple and they loved it.\u201d<\/p>\n

SOBEWFF began as a one-day event known as the Florida Extravaganza held at FIU\u2019s Biscayne Bay Campus, showcasing wines from national and international wineries paired with food from local restaurants and chefs working with hospitality management students. In 2002, it was relocated to South Beach. Since its start, SOBEWFF has raised more than\u00a0$20 million\u00a0for the Chaplin School.<\/p>\n

“We greatly appreciate the partnership with Red Robin and the opportunities presented to FIU students as a result of this collaboration,” said\u00a0Mike Hampton, Dean of Chaplin School.\u00a0“We take great pride in teaching our students to be innovative and challenge the status-quo.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FIU marketing major Alex Bello is about to put his hamburger creation up against the best in the world. Bello took home the Golden Robin award in Red Robin\u2019s annual burger contest. After beating out 152 entries, the spicy\u00a0Buffalo Mac \u2018N Cheesy Burger will be ready to taste this weekend at the annual Food\u00a0Network & […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":25029,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[3574,3575,3578,3577,3579,3576],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25027"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25027"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25027\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29936,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25027\/revisions\/29936"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}