Green Bay area's Souper Day owner will compete in 'Favorite Chef' for a chance to win $25,000: Streetwise
Editor's note: This story has been updated to explain how the voting process for Favorite Chef works.
ASHWAUBENON − Local chef Julie Baranek will have a chance to win $25,000 and appear in a two-page advertorial in Taste of Home magazine at the Favorite Chef competition.
Baranek opened Souper Day in 2021 at the Revolution Market on 2160 Holmgren Way, Suite 103. The restaurant offers soups, chili, sandwiches and wraps and does catering.
Favorite Chef is an online tournament-style competition powered by Colossal Management, a professional fundraising company that raises money through competitions. The company partnered with Carla Hall — from the television network Bravo's "Top Chef" — as a host to help guide competitors through the journey.
Baranek said she saw an announcement for the competition in a food blog and submitted a profile with photos of the food she makes.
"They reviewed it for a couple of weeks and then sent me an email saying, 'you are in!'" she said.
She said the competition has four rounds, and winners are determined by those with the most votes. The first round of voting starts Monday. After the first round, she said the organizers will tell them what the next round is.
"I think they just want to see that you have support from your community, that you are not just hiding in a basement" she said.
Voting can be done once every 24 hours for free by verifying an account through Facebook, or twice every 24 hours if verifying by a credit or debit card, which costs $1. Additional votes can be made via donations of various dollar amounts that equal the number of votes cast. Donations support the James Beard Foundation.
Baranek said at the very end, when there are only four competitors left, they will get an unique experience in a kitchen with Carla Hall. After that, a winner will be chosen and featured in the magazine and receive the money.
If she wins, she said she would use the money to open a second location either in De Pere or Howard.
"People have been asking me to open a second (restaurant) for some time," she said.
The meat for her shop's sandwiches comes from a farm owned by her husband's family in the village of Crivitz in Marinette County.
The first round of voting starts at 10 a.m. Monday. Visit this link to show support for Julie: favchef.com/2023/julie-baranek.
For more information about the restaurant, visit the website souperdaygreenbay.com or follow its Facebook page.
Ariel Perez is a business reporter for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. You can reach him at APerez1@gannett.com or view his Twitter profile at @Ariel_Perez85.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Souper Day chef Julie Baranek competes for $25K in 'Favorite Chef'
