Chef Devin Johnson, People's Choice Winner, with DeAnne Gibson of Ministry of Tourism & Aviation and assistant chef Jamal Small of Blu Restaurant.

Washington, D.C. - Chef Devin E. Johnson, executive c hef at the Sheraton Nassau Beach Resort , walked away with the People’s Choice Award at the Fifth Embassy Chef Challenge held at the Ronald Re a gan Building and International Trade Center,  on March 8th, 2012.

With the win, Chef Johnson made history by becoming the first Caribbean participant to capture one of the competition’s three ma jor awards .  The Bahamas was also the first Caribbean country to participate in the event since its inception.

Chef Johnson’s “Bahamian Seafood Duo ,” a mixture of island conch, mango, crawfish and avocado s alad topped w it h a fresh thyme and curry-scented Johnny cake stick , was an instant hit with those in attendance.  A n hour prior to the announcement of the winners, the 800 prepared servings were already consumed by guests.  The Bahamas ’ booth also serv ed Bush Crack, Sands and High Rock b eers.  I n addition , The B ahamas also contributed to the event’s silent a uction in the form of donating a Bahamian s a mpler b asket, a Sands Beer native basket sampler, an Androsia table clo th from Bahama Sol and a Bahamian Escape travel package at the Bimini Bay Resort, Bimini.

Organized by Cultural Tourism DC, the Embassy Chef Challenge celebrates the culinary talents of chefs representing embassies accredited to the United States of America, affording them the opportunity , in a friendly, yet competitive setting, to present a favorite hors d’oeurve to event guests and an illustrious panel of celebrity judges.  The judges select their favorite chef, and the invited guests vote for the People’s Choice Award . The results of the preliminary competition , Challenge Denmark, a head-to-head private cook-off held at the kitchens of the Occa sions Caters on February 12 , also determine which chef is awarded the Judge’s Choice aw ard, the competition’s top hono r.

In addition to Chef Johnson, The Bahamas’ contingent included Assistant Chef Jamal Sma ll and Mrs. DeAnn e Gibson, Cultural Tourism Division , Ministry of Tou ri sm.   The Diplomatic Staff of the Embassy of The Bahamas, Washington, D.C. provided technical and other support to the delegation during their time in the District , and at the event .

The Bahamas, China, Hungary, Republic of Iraq, Jamaica, Japan, Republic of Korea, Kingdom of Morocco, Norway, Spain, Sri Lanka , Republic of Kazakhstan, and Switzerland were among the countries participating in this year’s event.   Hungary was the winner of the Judges Award and Norway won the Denmark Challenge Award.

The esteemed judgi ng panel included: Tim Carman, food reporter for The Washington Post; Chef Lars Beese, executive c hef, Embassy of Denmark and 2011 overall winner; Chef Carla Hall , c o-host, The Chew, Top Chef finalist; Warren Brown , Founder and Owner of CakeLove; Chef Xavier Deshayes, executive c hef, Ronald Re a gan Building and International T rade Center; Chef Sina Molavi, executive c hef, Occasions Caterers; Chef Maziar Farivar, executive c hef a nd c o-owner, Pea cock Café; and Missy Fredrick, columnist for Top Shelf in the Washington Business Journal.