5th Annual Battle of the Chef Bands Returns to Belly Up Tavern on Monday, February 9 | Enter to Win 2 Passes to Attend

January 27, 2015

 On Monday, February 9, San Diego's culinary industry will converge at Belly Up Tavern to rally as fellow restaurant industry insiders rock the roof off a packed house at the 5th annual Battle of the Chef Bands! Hosted by Sam 'The Cooking Guy' Zien and Josh Kopelman of DiningOutSD, Battle of the Chef Bands is an annual fundraiser where bands made up of restaurant employees and chefs compete battle-of-the-bands-style to benefit the domestic violence awareness efforts of the esteemed Center for Community Solutions, all while other eateries sample their fare to concert goers. SanDiegoVille is raffling off two tickets to this amazing evening. Read on and be sure to enter our raffle!



Chef Kevin Templeton and Godhammered
Photo by DiningOutSD
What started a few years ago as a benefit where San Diego chefs and their staff came together to play Rock Band and do karaoke has evolved into legitimate, tried and true bands that just so happen to be made up of local chefs and restaurant staff. This year's 5th incarnation of the Battle of the Chef Bands will be unlike any other, as the talent continues to flourish, and while there has always been at least one 'karaoke' type performance, this year it's all for real!

Get ready to see Chef Katherine Humphus, formerly of Cohn Restaurant Group's BO-Beau, showing off her drum skills. Chef Matt Gordon, chef and proprietor of Urban Solace, Solace & The Moonlight Lounge and Sea & Smoke, will be shredding the guitar with his band August West. The soft spoken gentleman, Chef Kevin Templeton of barleymash, will melt faces again with his death metal band Godhammered. Other performing bands hail from such restaurants as Hodad's, Richard Walker's Pancake House, Jayne's Gastropub, Stone Brewing Co. World Bistro & Gardens and many more? The esteemed judging panel deciding which bands and bites are best includes Tommy Gomes of Catalina Offshore Products, Candice Woo of The Eater, Troy Johnson of SD Magazine, Dean Loring of Burger Lounge and Chef Alex Carballo of URBN Brewing. 

Hodad's dishing out Guido burgers
Photo by DiningOutSD
Restaurants don't only compete on the instrumental level, but, for the price of admission, attendees get the chance to sample delicious bites from 12 area restaurants and food purveyors. Expect delicious tastes from the likes of Carnitas' Snack Shack, Sea & Smoke, Hodad's, barleymash, La Valencia, Toronado, Local Habit, Cupcakes Squared and many more. There is also a riveting auction and raffle prizes.

"Chefs do so much work for charities around San Diego that I wanted to have a fun event where they could just have fun....and rock out. Chefs are not only talented artists in the kitchen but many love to play music," graciously exclaims Kopelman, who has worked long and hard to perfect this benevolent event.

Get your tickets to the 2015 Battle of the Chef Bands as soon as possible at bellyup.com/battle-of-the-chefs-bands, because the event will sell out. Passes are $40 in advance and $50 on the day of the show, entitling the holder to entry and tastes from participating restaurants.