Chopped Restaurant Impossible winner to be guest chef at Sample the Sierra

Food Network star, Reno native and culinary storyteller Chef Clint Jolly will be the featured guest chef at Sample the Sierra’s Pop-Up Dinner on Friday, Sept. 16 from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. This year's featured dinner will be held at Park Prime inside Hard Rock Lake Tahoe.

Jolly, the winner of the popular television competition, “Chopped: Restaurant Impossible” also founded Great Thyme Catering based in Reno but specializing in creating memorable events throughout the West.

At the Pop-Up Dinner, Chef Jolly will have the freedom to highlight his expertise and indulge diners in an environment unlike that of a traditional restaurant. Only 75 of the $75 tickets will be sold.

Jolly discovered his love for cooking at five years old when he helped his father at their butcher shop before going on to learn every aspect of the industry, including meal preparation, marketing and finance, which led to his commercial success. His career skyrocketed after his win on Food Network’s competition show “Chopped: Restaurant Impossible.”

An advocate for locally sourced ingredients, Jolly’s passion for the culinary world expanded when he learned about the prevalent agriculture and ranching industries in the surrounding region. The Pop-Up Dinner menu will highlight local foods handpicked by Jolly.

“I’m passionate about this region and the abundance it has to offer the culinary world,” said Jolly. “The Pop-Up Dinner gives guests a taste of how locally sourced food can transform the palette and the dining experience.”

The 7th annual Sample the Sierra festival on Saturday, Sept. 17 will feature the region’s best farm-to-fork cuisine and libations with restauranteurs and wine and craft beer purveyors. In addition to sampling paired dishes and drinks throughout the day, attendees will be treated to live music and paintings, and the Sierra Chef Challenge, a cooking faceoff similar to “Iron Chef.” Sample the Sierra is held at Bijou Community Park, South Lake Tahoe, Calif. Tickets are $40 for adults, $30 for persons under 21, and free for children three years old and younger at http://bit.ly/STSTix16.

Tickets for the Pop Up Dinner can be purchased at www.samplethesierra.com/events.