Former “Iron Chef” champion and Texas native Tim Love’s food has been critiqued numerous times over the years, but Thursday night, it was his turn to sit in the judge’s seat.
Love was one of three judges for the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority’s third annual philanthropy cook-off, Cook for the Crown, which took place in the Worth Hills parking lot. Proceeds from sponsor donations and team entry fees will be given to the Zeta Tau Alpha Foundation, which supports breast cancer education and awareness, said Abby Osvog, the chairwoman of the event.
Love, who has made multiple appearances on the Food Network, is well known for his Fort Worth restaurants Lonesome Dove, the Love Shack and the White Elephant Saloon. His involvement with the event enticed more people to attend, Osvog said.
Breast cancer awareness is a great cause, Love said.
“Anything I can do to help out other people, I’m always willing to do it,” Love said.
Last year, the event raised more than $25,000 dollars for the Zeta Tau Alpha Foundation, Osvog said. The sorority anticipated meeting and potentially exceeding that amount this year.
The cook-off was a competition between eight teams, each of which consisted of one sorority and one fraternity. Each sorority prepared a side dish prior to the event and each fraternity prepared an entree during the cook-off and participated in several eating contests throughout the evening.
Contestants wore pink ribbons that read “ZTA” and “THINK PINK” in honor of breast cancer awareness.
Judges Love, assistant dean and director of Student Development Carrie Zimmerman, and Zeta president Aly Pollard judged teams on creativeness, appearance and taste.
Rock singer and Texas native Josh Tatum, who said he was excited to help out with the philanthropy, played a free show with his band throughout the event.
The team of Sigma Phi Epsilon and Pi Beta Phi won the cook-off, which was one of several Zeta-sponsored events that took place throughout the week. Love presented each member of the team with a $100 gift card to any one of his restaurants.
