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Chefs in the Gardens cooking demonstration set for noon in Vail

Chef Tyler Wiard will make tenderloin salad with Colorado corn cakes, Colorado vegetables and smoked corn vinaigrette at today's Chefs in the Garden cooking demonstration.
Special to the Daily |

Betty Ford Alpine Gardens presents Elway’s Restaurant culinary director Tyler Wiard for the Chefs in the Gardens Thursday beginning at noon. The cost is $5 per person and includes samples of Wiard’s USDA prime tenderloin salad with Colorado corn cakes, Colorado vegetables and smoked corn vinaigrette.

The road to the Elway’s kitchen for Wiard began in Boulder working alongside local chef legends John Platt and David Query on the line at Q’s Restaurant in the Hotel Boulderado. After a stint at Jax-Boulder, famed Denver restaurateur Cliff Young recruited Wiard as the opening executive chef of his Napa Cafe, where his imaginative, exciting and superbly balanced food drew raves from critics.

Two separate stints as executive chef at Mel’s provided Wiard with the chance to experience the culinary world while doing guest chef work at Aqua with Michael Mina, Citronelle with Michel Richard and Wolfgang Puck’s Postrio with David and Stephen Rosenthal. Wiard’s seven-year stretch at Mel’s came during the restaurant’s lofty position as Cherry Creek’s hottest spot and Wiard twice scored honors of Top Denver Chef from 5280 magazine for his exquisite menus and flawless execution. Two invitations to cook at the James Beard House were among the highlights of his Mel’s experience.



Now culinary director for four Elway’s locations, Wiard has garnered numerous accolades including critical acclaim in nearly all of Denver’s print publications, multiple television appearances and even a feature in Food Network chef’s Paula Deen Magazine. For five consecutive years, Wiard has returned to the “Carnegie Hall for chefs” with Denver’s top chefs to cook at the prestigious James Beard House. Wiard beat out 22 other chefs from across the country to take top prize in the 19th annual Taste of Elegance, a national competition sponsored by the National Pork Board. Wiard was nominated by national non-profit Share Our Strength for their Chef of the Year Award in 2013. He was a contestant in Bravo’s Top Chef Season 10 Seattle.


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