Centerplate Chef Wins Top Prize in N.O. Food and Wine Experience Challenge

Brandon Felder, executive chef at Centerplate, the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center’s exclusive food and beverage provider

NEW ORLEANS – Brandon Felder earned “Best in Show” honors in the savory category of the 2020 New Orleans Food and Wine Experience Culinary Awards. Felder is the executive chef of Centerplate, the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center’s exclusive food and beverage provider.

Felder and his team took top honors with a dish containing the following ingredients: House-Made Brioche, Sous-Vide Free-Range Chicken Egg, Louisiana Jumbo Lump Blue Crabmeat, Blue Crab Mousse, Cajun Caviar, Crystal Hot Sauce Hollandaise and Shaved Oregon Truffle.

“We are all so proud of Chef Felder and the entire team here at Centerplate on this outstanding accomplishment,” says Jack Lyon, general manager of Centerplate at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. “He is an outstanding leader in the kitchen. Not only does he get the most out of our chefs, he also strives to improve his own skills through a blend of creative dishes with outstanding flavor profiles.”

A New Orleans-born chef who received his Bachelor of Culinary Arts from the Culinary Institute of Virginia College in Birmingham, Ala., Felder adds this accolade to a trophy case that also includes gold medals in previous New Orleans Food and Wine Experience competitions, and the Gambit Emerging Chefs Challenge. Before joining the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, Felder served in senior leadership positions in the kitchens of top New Orleans restaurants, including Le Foret, Stella!, and Commander’s Palace.

Dishes for this contest were submitted in March, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the New Orleans Food and Wine Experience was postponed. Felder will now receive his Best in Show award at a small, socially distanced ceremony in December.