Local Food, Put to the Test
On Monday, October 5, Myzel Risin' joins farmers, food producers, chefs, and supporters from across Northeast Indiana for the 2026 Local Food Throwdown, hosted by the Northeast Indiana Local Food Network at The Pearl Event Center in downtown Fort Wayne.
The annual fundraiser puts locally produced ingredients at the center of a three-course culinary competition. Nine Northeast Indiana chefs will create appetizers, entrées, and desserts using ingredients sourced from farms and producers throughout the region—and guests get to taste the results and vote for their favorites.
For us, this event reflects one of the most important parts of growing food locally: seeing an ingredient leave the farm and become something entirely new in the hands of a chef.
Myzel Risin' at the Local Food Throwdown
We’re proud to be one of the local producers contributing ingredients to this year’s competition.
Several of the chefs competing in the 2026 Throwdown are chefs we regularly serve, and our FIEV Umami Roasted Mushroom Powder will be among the locally produced ingredients available for the evening’s dishes.
That relationship between grower and chef is central to how we think about mushrooms.
We grow and process our mushrooms in-house, but their story does not end at our farm. Chefs bring a different perspective to an ingredient—using technique, experience, and creativity to pull out flavors and applications we may never have approached in exactly the same way.
The Throwdown gives guests a chance to experience that connection firsthand.
Nine Chefs. Three Courses. Local Ingredients.
The 2026 competition features nine regional chefs across three rounds. Guests will receive three appetizers, three entrées, and three desserts, then vote to select a Local Food Champion for each course.
Appetizer Round
Andrew Brazis — Basted
Kyle Barva — Rune Restaurant
Kyle Mares — Amore Italian Steak Seafood
Entrée Round
Alex Romines-Ditton — Copper Spoon
Dawn Folsom — Hawt Mess Express
Tony West — The Oyster Bar
Dessert Round
Jennifer Esterline — E-Brewing Company
Jim Huffman — Walnut Hill Catering & Events
Mary Brames — Kanela
The event organizers are keeping the final recipes under wraps, but the menu will draw from regional proteins, dairy, seasonal produce, grains, honey, and ingredients supplied by farms and food businesses from across Northeast Indiana. Plant-based and gluten-free options are available throughout the tasting experience. Northeast Indiana Local Food Network
From Our Farm to Their Kitchen
Mushroom powder gives chefs something different to work with than a fresh mushroom.
Roasting and milling concentrate the mushroom into an ingredient that can bring savory depth, umami, and mushroom character into sauces, seasoning blends, crusts, broths, finishing applications, and other preparations without requiring the mushroom to remain the visible centerpiece of the dish.
That versatility is one reason we developed our roasted mushroom powders—and why we’re particularly interested to see what the competing chefs do with them.
The final dishes remain a surprise until October 5.
Celebrating Northeast Indiana's Local Food System
The Local Food Throwdown is more than a chef competition.
It is a fundraiser for the Northeast Indiana Local Food Network, whose work connects farms, food businesses, restaurants, schools, and communities across the region. Proceeds from the event support initiatives including Farm to School programming, local food access, local food-system development, and programs designed to strengthen the regional farm economy.
Myzel Risin' is one of a dozen of farms and local businesses contributing ingredients to this year’s event.
That broader producer network is part of what makes the evening meaningful: guests are not simply tasting nine dishes—they are tasting what can happen when regional farms and regional chefs work together.
Event Details
2026 Local Food Throwdown
Monday, October 5, 2026
5:00–9:00 PM
The Pearl Event Center
228 W. Main St.
Fort Wayne, Indiana 46802
Tickets: $150 per person
Admission includes the full nine-dish tasting experience and one drink ticket. The event also features a full-service bar with locally inspired cocktails, mocktails, wines, meads, ciders, and beers. Free adjacent parking is available.
The official schedule begins with doors and appetizers at 5:00 PM, followed by the entrée round at approximately 6:30 PM, dessert after 7:20 PM, and closing remarks and raffle announcements at approximately 8:45 PM.