Valley residents place in food event

Two Gardnerville residents placed in the Beringer Wine Great Steak Challenge in Las Vegas on July 3.

Terri Crandall won second place and Kevin Cloutier won third place in the Food Network contest. They were two of 10 contestants whose steak recipes were selected for the cook-off.

Cloutier's mother Pam Riggs said her son is getting ready to go to culinary school in Truckee soon.

"He's been cooking since he was 5 years old," said Riggs. "He grew up watching the Food Network. Emeril Lagasse is his hero."

She said Cloutier won a culinary scholarship from Douglas High School (class of 2005), and has worked at Adele's, Bodine's and Carson Valley Inn.

The recipe he entered in the cook-off was for tri-tip with tarragon and mushrooms.

"They treated them like movie stars at the cook-off," said Riggs. "He was happy to be involved."