SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--P.F. Chang’s is making lettuce wrap history again, adding Korean Beef Bulgogi to its menu after a flaming hot live cook-off featuring top chefs and three finalists from the nationwide Freestyle Lettuce Wrap Contest. Celebrity judges and lettuce wrap fans put their taste buds to the test and cast their votes to identify the next lettuce wrap flavor fusion to be debuted in restaurants across the country.
The Freestyle Lettuce Wrap competition asked guests to build on P.F. Chang’s history as the originator of Lettuce Wraps and help create the next Lettuce Wrap dish by submitting their favorite flavor combinations. After more than 50,000 recipe submissions, 90,000 online votes select the finalists, and a head-to-head cooking competition in front of a live audience in Las Vegas on September 7, Tim Itano from Wheaton, Illinois won with a Korean Beef Bulgogi creation.
“I love dining at P.F. Chang’s and also enjoy experimenting in my own kitchen to come up with new creations,” said Itano. “It has been tremendously exciting to develop this delicious new flavor with a skilled and inspiring chef from a restaurant I love.”
Other flavors in the final competition included Thai Peanut Chicken, submitted by Kaitlin Greathouse from Mission Viejo, California Orange County, California and Sriracha Honey Chicken by Emily Johnson from Louisville, Kentucky.
“This competition has been intense, but it’s also been a lot of fun,” said Tana Davila, senior vice president of marketing at P.F. Chang’s. “Since the start of the contest in July, we’ve seen people across the country celebrate P.F. Chang’s and our original Lettuce Wraps. Just as we’ve been rewarded by this experience, we look forward to rewarding our guests with a taste of this irresistible new flavor.”
Korean Beef Bulgogi will be on the P.F. Chang’s menu for a limited time, starting in the spring of 2020. Itano was also awarded a $25,000 cash prize during a live program today, judged by celebrity chef Scott Conant, singer/songwriter Montell Jordan and former P.F. Chang’s employee, reality TV star and racecar driver Arie Luyendyk, Jr.
About P.F. Chang’s
Founded in 1993 by Philip Chiang and Paul Fleming, P.F. Chang’s is the first internationally recognized multi-unit casual dining restaurant concept to honor and celebrate the 2,000-year-old tradition of wok cooking as the center of the guest experience. Since inception, P.F. Chang’s chefs have been hand rolling dim sum, hand chopping and slicing all vegetables and meats, scratch cooking sauces and wok cooking each dish, every day in every restaurant. P.F. Chang’s scratch menu highlights its wholesome, made-to-order-cooking approach and introduces new dishes and drinks for lunch, happy hour and dinner. Today, P.F. Chang’s has more than 300 restaurants around the world including 25 countries and U.S. airport locations. To find the P.F. Chang’s closest to you, click here. For more P.F. Chang’s news, visit pfchangs.com and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @pfchangs.
