Celebrity Chef Ed Porter Visits UC Merced in ‘Takeover’ of Yablokoff-Wallace Dining Center

Chef Ed Porter, winner of Guy Fieri's Grocery Games who was featured on the hit Netflix series "Pressure Cooker," visited campus on April 11 for a takeover of the Yablokoff-Wallace Dining Center.

In collaboration with UC Merced's Dining Services and executive chefs Mitchell Vanagten and Anthony Pangelina, Porter spent two days visiting the farms participating in UC Merced's local BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) Produce Buying Program, culminating in an exclusive dining experience for the campus community.

Porter, characterized by his unique blend of music and food, featured live music from DJ DIME and added his own twist on each of the five meal stations at the dining center: miso soy salmon, pomelo and herb grilled chicken with a plant-based option, red wine braised beef and a chef special strawberry and feta cheese pizza. With a Lakeside Catering crew consisting of mostly student staff, Porter also held a six-course private dining experience for campus leaders that featured an impressive menu of beet-cured salmon with compressed watermelon, asparagus gazpacho, seared Chilean sea bass with trumpet scallops, herb-crusted lamb with cauliflower steak and warm chocolate ganache.

Porter, a New York native, had the opportunity to explore the Central Valley's unique agricultural environment as part of his takeover and an upcoming documentary project.