Virtual TACO WARS, Santa Fe

What do you do when COVID shuts down your cherished event? You take it ONLINE, and quadruple your attendees!

I have to admit, if you would have told me… even 4 months ago… that TACO WARS would work as an online event, I would have scoffed and flung a taco in your face. But, necessity is the mother of invention, as the saying goes, so I employed the most overused word of 2020.. PIVOT.

I gave myself a crash-course in Zoom webinars, dropped a few hundred bucks, reached out to all of the chefs and liquor brands registered for the live 2020 TACO WARS, and invited them to come online with me. The result? Something that makes me quite proud, if I’m being unabashedly honest.

The 3 1/2 hour event was an intimate sneak-peek culinary devotees could only dream of… going inside a chef’s home kitchen and making the taco with them. Think about how many people pay big bucks to sit at a chef’s table, in a restaurant kitchen, to watch the action as it unfolds…the voyeuristic ecstasy of seeing the dish made right before you plunge it into your mouth. Over 2000 viewers got to do just that during Virtual TACO WARS.

Our amazing chef line up, and winners, included:

  • John Pullen (our first overseas competitor and TOP TACO first place winner)

  • Rocky Durham (second place)

  • Michelle Chavez, Santa Fe School of Cooking (third place)

  • Matt Yohalem, Il Piatto

  • Peter O’Brien

  • Cheryl Alters Jamison, Cookbook Author and Radio Host

  • Jeff Kaplan, Rowley’s Farmhouse Ales

  • Cristian Pontiggia, Sassella

  • Randy Tapia, La Fonda

  • Josh Gerwin, Dr. Field Goods

In addition to the chefs, we also had some star speakers from the drinks world demo drinks to wash down those taco delights:

  • Jill & Dale DeGroff

  • Tony Abou-Ganim

  • Jared Sasso (Caravedo Pisco)

  • NMCC Bartender of the Year, Jessica O’Brien

  • Sommelier, Laurie Catizone

  • Egor Polonskiy (Patron tequila)

  • Bobby Gleason (Beam Suntory)

See the whole line up and get recipes on this page, and you can even sign up for a free online class with Chef John Pullen, the winner of this round.

TACO WARS - both smaller live and virtual events - will continue throughout the summer. We cant wait to share them with you. Sign up for The Liquid Museletter to get info delivered to your email inbox, and join The Liquid Muse Cocktail & Culinary Club facebook group to interact with our community, on the regular.