Club names PZA entree winner of Chef’s Open

BY Ariana Shah

Three Canyon Lake restaurants competed recently in the Canyon Lake Junior Women’s Club’s Chef’s Open, with the PZA Restaurant in the Canyon Lake Town Center being named winner. The Urban Craft Eatery and The Lighthouse Bar & Grill also had entrees in the friendly competition.

The Chef’s Open was a fundraiser where a portion of the cost of the meals was donated back to the Junior Women’s Club.

The chefs from each of the three restaurants created a unique Canyon Lake Junior Women’s Club signature dish that was featured on their menu. Patrons who ordered the special dish were given a slip to fill out at the restaurant on which they were encouraged to vote for the dish as either “Amazing” or “Disappointing.” The restaurant with the most “Amazing” votes won the competition.

The club received $10 from each purchased dish. These proceeds will be used to help uplift families in Canyon Lake who are in need.

The PZA Restaurant’s signature dish was “Wake Pepperoni Grill Cheese Combo,” which sold for $12.00.

The Urban Craft and Eatery created the “Bacon Wrap Crab Cake Benedict” for the competition. It was made with lump crab and yukon potato hash browns on top of a toasted English muffin. Included in the dish were applewood bacon and a poached egg with hollandaise sauce and arugula. The meal cost $25.00.

The Lighthouse Bar & Grill offered as its signature dish a baked trout stuffed with brie and apples. It was served with butternut squash, risotto and grilled asparagus. The cost was $20.00.

“This was our first Chef’s Open,” Blair Avery, a club member, said. “We wanted to create alternative ways to raise money for our philanthropy. It went great and we hope to continue The Chef’s Open for next year.”

The Junior Women’s Club also held a Virtual Golf Tournament recently. The funds raised from the event will be put towards 2021 scholarships.

“We are very grateful for all that we raised during this time of COVID-19,” City of Canyon Lake Mayor Kasey Castillo, a member of the club, said. “We are grateful for the businesses that donated tee signs, as well.”

With the arrival of the new year, the club is gearing up for more fundraising for its scholarship funds.

“Our club is going to focus on raising and donating money for the upcoming scholarship season,” Sonja Kehnt Garibay, a club member, said. “We are hoping for more female and male scholarship applicants this year. We want to help families get their kids to college during this pandemic.”

The Canyon Lake Junior Women’s Club is a nonprofit organization that has been serving the community of Canyon Lake for many years.