When the timer starts ticking on Friday, September 18, for the Fifth Annual Connecticut Chefs Challenge, a fundraiser to support the Optimus Foundation, at the Lincoln Culinary Institute in Shelton, one of the eight chefs vying for the championship belt and $1,000 grand prize, will be Sandy Hook resident Justin Kern.

Chef Kern will not be the only Newtown representative there, though. Hosting the fundraiser will be Chef Kristopher Plummer (better known as “Chef Plum”), a personal chef from Newtown, and owner of Plum Luv Foods and Pork Belly Productions. Chef Plum has appeared on Food Network, ABC, CBS, Jamie Oliver’s Food Tube. He is also a former Chefs Challenge participant.

After sharing his thoughts on the event with event coordinator Ashley Keller, “The next thing you know, they are asking me to host the event,” said Chef Plum. “Coming off my eighth Food Network appearance, Cutthroat Kitchen, and hosting a live radio show on Monday nights, I love live crowds.”

He is honored to have this opportunity to support Optimus Foundation, Chef Plum said, as well as to have the opportunity to “make the crowd laugh and have a great time. Food should be fun, so that’s what I plan on doing: making it fun.”

The Optimus Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the mission of Optimus Health Care, a provider of primary health care services, operating community health centers in Bridgeport, Stamford, and Stratford. The mission of the Optimus Foundation, according to chefschallenge.com, is “to support development of new Optimus facilities and improvements in existing Optimus facilities and to promote public awareness and understanding of the services Optimus provides.”

The Chefs Challenge — a evening of food, music, and raffles, and open to the public — raises funds that go toward renovation of medical office facilities, investment in technology and equipment, staff training, research and development, as well as increasing public awareness of Optimus Health Care’s community services. 

Participating chefs have a budget of just $300 and only one hour to create and plate a signature dish that will impress judges Chef Derrick Prince of Stanton Social in New York City; food personalities Judy and Joy, featured on CBS’s The Talk; and Ken Tuccio of “Welcome to Connecticut” podcast. Dishes are judged on taste, creativity, and presentation.

A String Of Random Events

Justin Kern is the executive chef at The Meeting House Pub in Bethel.

“I’ve always been into food,” said Chef Kern, beginning with his first restaurant job at a small pizzeria, when he was 16 years old. He moved on to a restaurant in Shokan, N.Y., after just six months, and it was there, he said, that he learned the restaurant business.

“That’s where I built a lot of my chops, and how I learned to be a chef,” he said, appreciative of his mentor’s guidance. “I learned a lot about the whole backbone of the restaurant industry there,” he said.

Never a culinary school student, Chef Kern “bounced around a little,” working in various upstate New York restaurants, and picking up knowledge along the way.

“I had my own catering business for a while, and then, when I was still in my twenties, I took a break. I was actually doing sales for Chrysler and Cadillac,” he said, while still occasionally dabbling in the food business.

It was just through “dumb luck” he said, that he got an offer to open a restaurant in Athens, N.Y., pulling him back full time into the restaurant business.

“We got that place, a B&B, on its feet in about six months, and I got back into catering,” Chef Kern said.

In October 2012, shortly after he happened to meet Chef Plum, Chef Kern and his family moved to Sandy Hook. He joined with Chef Plum in presenting a series of “pop up” dinners in Newtown and area towns, before the opportunity presented itself to work at Amore restaurant in Stamford. Owned by Bruno Di Fabrio, 13-time medalist in the World Pizza Games/Pizza World Championships, it was another opportunity to learn, said Chef Kern.

“Everything I always have done has been a baptism by fire. Everything in my life has been a string of random events,” he laughed.

The synchronicity struck again this past year, when he met the owners of The Meeting House Pub, through mutual friends, and was offered the position of executive chef at the new restaurant.

While he has been busy putting together a tight kitchen team and overseeing the kitchen at The Meeting House Pub since April, Chef Kern said that he could not say no when approached by Chef Plum to participate in the Chefs Challenge.

“The event seems awesome. It’s a good opportunity to do something for a good cause, and to see what others in the industry are doing,” he said.

His Meeting House Pub sous chef, C.J. Donahue, also of Newtown, will assist him at the event. Chef Kern is also excited that students from the Lincoln Culinary Institute will be available to help, as it will be a great chance for the nascent chefs to see how different chefs respond and execute a recipe, he said.

He is looking forward to the challenge, as well.

“It’s a good variety of chefs from across Connecticut, great talent in all. It will all come down to the execution.

“I’ve done crazy events before, like plating dishes in the middle of a dance floor, but nothing competition-wise,” he added. “You have to think ‘What’s the one thing, the one move’ that will make the difference. But you have to stick to what you know and what you do best, and prepare for the variables. You’re not in your own kitchen, and you never know what could happen. An hour’s not a whole lot of time,” he pointed out.

Chef Kern has selected the recipe he will prepare for the three judges and a select group of tasters, on September 18.

“C.J. and I have worked on it to make it second nature,” he said. Not wanting to give it away, Chef Kern did divulge that it is “a cool, comfort dish.”

The fundraiser will allow the public to see what Connecticut has to offer in the way of food and chefs, said Chef Kern, and will be a great evening of entertainment.

“I’ve dealt with the odds and feel confident about going anywhere and making something happen. It’ll be anybody’s game. We all take it seriously, and we’re all going in to win the event,” he said.

General admission to Chefs Challenge is $50, and includes beer and wine, and appetizers and a food buffet presented by the students of the Lincoln Culinary Institute, coffee and dessert. Tasting Tickets are available for $100, and include general admission food and drink, plus a reserved seat to vote for the People’s Choice Award.

Proceeds from the evening benefit the Optimus Foundation.

Details and ticket information are at www.ctchefschallenge.com.