Florida International University Student Brings the Heat as Red Robin's Golden Robin Contest Winner

GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo., Feb. 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Alex Bello has cooked up the recipe for burger success as the winner of Red Robin's Golden Robin Contest. The senior at Florida International University beat out 151 entries to earn a $10,000 scholarship and the chance for his Buffalo Mac 'N Cheesy Burger to be featured  on the menu at participating Red Robin^® restaurants nationwide. Additionally, Bello will join Red Robin at the Amstel Light Burger Bash presented by Schweid & Sons hosted by Rachael Ray during the 14^th annual Food Network & Cooking Channel South Beach Wine & Food Festival presented by FOOD & WINE on Friday, Feb. 20, where he will have the opportunity to serve his pub-inspired burger creation.  Celebrity chef Marc Murphy, judge of Food Network's Chopped, will serve as a judge of the "Best of the Bash" award. 

"As the Gourmet Burger Authority, we know a lot about the ingredients needed to create a craveable burger," said Dana Benfield, vice president of engagement marketing with Red Robin.  "Alex's recipe for Red Robin's Golden Robin Contest features the combination of two American classics – burgers and mac 'n cheese – mixed with the spicy kick of Buffalo sauce to make up one delicious menu creation, and we're excited to serve his winning burger at the Amstel Light Burger Bash."

Bello's victory comes as a result of an ongoing partnership between Red Robin, the Food Network & Cooking Channel South Beach Wine & Food Festival and FIU's Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management, one of the highest rated hospitality and tourism programs in the United States. For this year's Festival, Red Robin challenged FIU students to submit a recipe for their best rendition of a pub-inspired, Tavern Double burger for a chance to win Red Robin's Golden Robin Contest. All 152 recipes that the students submitted were carefully judged based on creativity, taste and use of unique ingredients.  The Buffalo Mac 'N Cheesy Burger emerged as the winner for its craveable combination of two fire-grilled beef patties topped with Red Robin's Mac 'N Cheesy, melted Muenster cheese, Heinz^® Buffalo Wing Sauce and Ranch dressing on a toasted sesame seed bun. 

"We greatly appreciate the partnership with Red Robin and the opportunities presented to FIU students as a result of this collaboration," said Mike Hampton, Dean of Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management at FIU.  "We take great pride in teaching our students to be innovative and challenge the status-quo."

The Amstel Light Burger Bash is America's most prestigious burger competition, which brings together the country's top culinary maestros and chefs, giving them the opportunity to display their creations and battle it out for burger supremacy. For the third year in a row, Red Robin has invited all chefs participating in the Amstel Light Burger Bash to submit their burger recipe for a chance to win $10,000 and have their recipe featured on Red Robin's Finest premium burger menu later this year. A panel of carefully selected judges, including Chef Murphy and Red Robin executives, will select and present the winning chef with "Red Robin's Best of the Bash Award" on the Burger Bash^® stage at the Food Network & Cooking Channel South Beach Wine & Food Festival on Friday, Feb. 20 in Miami, Fla.  The Festival has raised more than $20 million to date for FIU's Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management.  

For more information about Red Robin and to find a Red Robin restaurant near you, visit www.redrobin.com.

About Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc. (NASDAQ: RRGB)
Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc. (www.redrobin.com), a casual dining restaurant chain founded in 1969 that operates through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Red Robin International, Inc., is the Gourmet Burger Authority^™, famous for serving more than two dozen craveable, high-quality burgers with Bottomless Steak Fries^® in a fun environment welcoming to guests of all ages.  In addition to its many burger offerings, Red Robin serves a wide variety of salads, soups, appetizers, entrees, desserts and signature Mad Mixology^® Beverages. Red Robin offers a variety of options behind the bar, including its extensive selection of local and regional beers, and innovative adult beer shakes and cocktails, recently earning the restaurant the 2014 VIBE Vista Award for Best Beer Program in a Multi-Unit Chain Restaurant. There are more than 500 Red Robin restaurants across the United States and Canada, including Red Robin Burger Works^® locations and those operating under franchise agreements. Red Robin… YUMMM^®! Connect with Red Robin on Facebook and Twitter. 

About Marc Murphy 
Ask Chef Marc Murphy where he grew up and he'll fire off a list of cosmopolitan destinations — Milan, Paris, Washington DC, Rome and Genoa. For some, growing up the son of a globetrotting diplomat might have been stressful, yet for Murphy, this dizzying list of hometowns served as an excellent education in French and Italian cuisine, and afforded him the luxury of learning from a young age just how much he loved the world of cooking and of restaurants. Since then, Murphy has logged more than 20 years in the restaurant business, working in some of the world's most highly esteemed kitchens, including Le Miraville in Paris, Alain Ducasses' Louis XV in Monte Carlo and Le Cirque in New York.

Today, he serves as the Chef and Owner of Benchmarc Restaurants (Landmarc and Ditch Plains) and Benchmarc Events by Marc Murphy, as well as the Chef of Kingside at Viceroy New York. He is a judge on The Food Network's top rated hit CHOPPED, President of the Manhattan chapter of the New York State Restaurant Association, a board member and member of the Food Council for City Harvest and a member of the Leadership Council for Share our Strength's No Kid Hungry campaign. In 2012, Marc joined the U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic Culinary Partnership, where he takes part in public diplomacy programs abroad and in the United States.

Marc is the Author of Season with Authority: Confident Home Cooking his debut cookbook will be released on April, 28th 2015.

About the Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management
Florida International University's Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management has been distinguished as one of the top hospitality programs in the U.S.  Each year, more than 1,400 undergraduate and graduate students from across the United States and around the world choose FIU for its outstanding reputation, advantageous campus locations, expert faculty, rich curriculum, and fast-track career advantages in the international hotel, foodservice and tourism industries. In August 2006, FIU unveiled the first U.S. School of Hospitality and Tourism in Tianjin, China. The Marriott Tianjin China Program is FIU's largest international program, with a capacity for up to 2,000 students.  For more information about Florida International University's School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, visit http://hospitality.fiu.edu/.

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SOURCE Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc.