Round Three of the Culinary Clash Returns Tonight

Grid View

• Rick Moonen and Mario Batali
• Matt Harubin of B&B Ristorante checks out his mystery basket.
• Mario Batali juggles lemons.
• Robert Juan of SushiSamba and Robin Leach
• Robert Juan of SushiSamba and Ronnie Rainwater of Delmonico
• Mario Batali and Robin Leach
• Ronnie Rainwater of Delmonico
• Mario Batali goes Gangnam style
• Nicole Brisson of Carnevino
• Nicole Brisson of Carnevino
• Sebastien Silvestri declares Steve Aguglia of Aquaknox the winner of this round.
• Robin Leach, Matt Harubin of B&B Ristorante and Tommaso Tarantino of Valentino
• Steve Aguglia of Aquaknox, Sebastien Silvestri and DJ Cheek of Tao Asian Bistro
• Stefan Peroutka of the Venetian and Palazzo
• Nicole Brisson, Sebastien Silvestri, Mario Batali and Larry Ruvo
• Denise Valdez, Mario Batali and Larry Ruvo
• Rick Moonen and Mario Batali
• Robin Leach and Stefan Peroutka of the Venetian and Palazzo
• Tommaso Tarantino of Valentino

Round three of the Venetian and Palazzo's Culinary Clash kicks off tonight at the Doge Palace in front of the resorts with Sammy DeMarco of Rattlecan and First Food & Bar and Luciano Pellegrino of Valentino serving as judges.

Each chef from the resort faces off against another, four in all, with half eliminated and the other half moving on to round three next week. Each chef will create a dish in 45 minutes from ingredients found moments before in a mystery basket. Food trucks will be on hand, serving as the kitchens for the event.

Last week, Mario Batali served as one of the judges. Cameras inside the food trucks showed the chefs working away at their creations. Batali even juggled lemons in front of the crowd. Rick Moonen of RM Seafood, fresh off his appearance on Top Chef: Seattle, even showed up to judge the final competition.

Tonight the action kicks off at 10 p.m. Chefs on tap to face off include Nicole Brisson of Carnevino, Jason White of B&B Ristorante, Robert Juan of SushiSamba and Steve Aguglia of Aquaknox.

The event is free and open to the public. Each cooking battle will be highlighted with street entertainment, DJ music and an after-party provided by Tao.

The stakes? The winner receives a trip to Italy with a guest.

The festivities are all part of the Winter in Venice, a celebration of the winter holiday that runs through Jan. 6, 2013, at the Venetian and Palazzo.
· All Coverage of the Culinary Clash [~ELV~]