Pasadena Home Cook Makes It To World Food Champion Crowning Moment

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Posted Sep 22, 2020

Pasadena Home Cook Makes It To World Food Champion Crowning Moment

Two-time Champion, Lidia Haddadian, recently competed in the World Food Championships (WFC) final culinary gauntlet in Indianapolis, Indiana, where nine other champions navigated three cooking challenges in their quest to earn the biggest title in Food Sport, along with a $100,000 grand prize.

Now, for the first time, foodies across the nation will be able to watch the intense, tournament-style elimination process –– known as “Final Table: Indy” –– unfold as The Cooking Channel reveals who the $100,000 winner is on October 3rd at 1 pm (Eastern).

The one-hour docu-series highlights the competitors' food sport journey and captures the intensity of the multi-day competition as the aspiring chefs face-off in Indiana-specific challenges.

The ten competitors won their spot to compete at the “Final Table: Indy” event by emerging from WFC’s 2019 Main Event, where they beat out almost 500 teams to become the Champion of their category. Not only did they obtain a new culinary title to add to their repertoire, each Champion also won a $10,000 grand prize. In August, they reconvened at Indy’s Ivy Tech Culinary Center to battle three more times, only this time there was a lot more money up for grabs.

The Category Champions who competed in the “Final Table: Indy” were:

Lidia Hadaddian, two-time Category Champion (2019 Recipe, 2018 Chicken) from Pasadena, California
Jodi Taffel, 2019 Bacon World Champion from Altadena, California
Matthew Statham, 2019 World Chef Champion from Fultondale, Alabama
Morgan Cheek, 2019 World Burger Champion from Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Ryan Hegland, 2019 World Steak Champion from Lakeville, Minnesota
Josh Cooper, 2019 World Seafood Champion from Tallahassee, Florida
Kelli Fairchild-Cochran, two-time Sandwich Champion (2019, 2014) from Merced, California
Evette Rahman, two-time Dessert Champion (2019, 2016) from Orlando, Florida
Rocky Julianelle, 2019 World Open Chili Champion from East Haven, Connecticut
Ryan Murphy, 2019 World Barbecue Champion from Kansas City, Missouri

Before Lidia’s debut at the “Final Table: Indy,” she competed in Food Sport events for ten years winning about $83,000 in prizes over the years. When asked what she would do with the $100,000 grand prize, Lidia said the first thing is buying a new pair of tennis shoes after a weekend of running around the kitchen. She also said she doesn’t exactly know how she will spend it, she intends on using it wisely and with integrity.

Find out who came out on top when the show airs in its entirety on October 3 at 1 pm (Eastern) on The Cooking Channel.

Until then, stay up-to-date on all culinary competition news, by following the World Food Championships on Twitter (@WorldFoodChamp), Facebook and Instagram (@WorldFoodChampionships).

About World Food Championships

The World Food Championships (WFC) is the highest stakes food competition in the world. This multi-day, live event culinary competition showcases some of the world's best cooks who compete for food, fame and fortune in 10 categories (Bacon, Barbecue, Burger, Chef, Dessert, Recipe, Sandwich, Seafood, Soup and Steak). In 2019, more than 450 culinary teams from 11 countries and 42 American states competed in WFC’s Main Event. In August, the 10 Category Champs faced-off in the $100,000 challenge that determined a new World Food Champion at The Final Table: Indianapolis. The 8th Annual World Food Champion will be revealed Oct. 3rd on the Cooking Channel.

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Pasadena Home Cook Makes It To World Food Champion Crowning Moment

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