SOLD OUT: Events DC Embassy Chef Challenge Final Program Announced

37 embassies will compete, emcee and stage performances confirmed

The 2025 Events DC Embassy Chef Challenge is proud to announce that 37 embassies will compete in this year’s sold out international culinary competition on July 10 at 6:00 p.m. at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium.

The Events DC Embassy Chef Challenge is a gathering of embassy chefs from around the world, showcasing the unique flavors of their home countries in a friendly, delicious culinary competition. The 2025 Challenge offers an immersive, global foodie experience only possible in Washington, DC.

This year, the annual event will be hosted by Washington, DC-based restaurateur and former Top Chef contestant, Spike Mendelsohn. Mendelsohn is the chef and owner at multiple restaurants including Good Stuff Eatery, Santa Rosa Taqueria, and We, The Pizza. He has served as chair of the Washington, DC, DC Food Policy Council since his appointment by Mayor Muriel Bowser in February 2015.

Joining Mendelsohn on the Embassy Chef Challenge stage will be a non-stop program of performances to accompany the international food and drink that will be served. The Embassy Chef Challenge encourages culinary diplomacy and celebrates the visual arts of many cultures and highlights some of the world’s amazing musicians, dancers and singers.

This year’s Events DC Embassy Chef Challenge performance groups on the main stage are:

• Bolivia, Los Caporales: San Simón Sucre Filial Virginia will perform a dance of the migratory currents of African slaves who were brought to Bolivia during the colonist time.
• Cameroon: Afrobeats singer Witty Minstrel will be performing a song.
• China, “Give Me a Rose”: Effy Liu is a young pipa performer and instructor who has appeared at many prestigious cultural venues across the U.S. Liu will perform a traditional Chinese piece with rich ethnic flavor, originating from Xinjiang in western China.
• Muath Edriss: Edriss is a professional Arabian warbler and winner of the Best Voice Award in 2001. He is the first and only in history to compose, translate and perform the American national anthem in Arabic and is the first and only person to sing in Arabic on Oud at the White House.
• Peru, Heartbeats of Peru: A captivating dance performance will blend color, movement and history. From the joyful highland melodies of Valicha, to the elegance and passion of the Marinera, and the powerful beats of Afro-Peruvian cajón percussion. The performance celebrates the diverse cultural roots that make Peru a land of unforgettable traditions and rhythms.
• Trinidad and Tobago, The Steelpannist: The Steelpan is the only acoustic musical instrument created in the 20th Century. It is the National instrument of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.
• Ukraine: Roman Velychko has played the violin for 11 years. He studied at the Juilliard Pre-College and is now in DC. He will perform solo at the Embassy Chef Challenge.

Attendees will travel the world with their taste buds, sampling bites and beverages from the participating countries while chefs compete to win the coveted People’s Choice Award, chosen by guests’ votes and announced alongside the Judges’ Choice, selected this year by a panel of five judges:

• Chef Eric Adjepong, Top Chef Alum, Food Network Host, and Cookbook Author
• Lenore T. Adkins, Freelance food journalist
• Tim Ebner, District-based food and international travel writer
• Chef Francis Otoo, Embassy Chef Challenge multi-award-winning chef representing the Embassy of Ghana
• Tierney Plumb, Northeast Editor, Eater

Countries confirmed to compete are:

• Algeria
• Bahrain
• Barbados
• Burundi
• Bolivia
• Cameroon
• Chile
• China
• Colombia
• Cuba
• Dominican Republic
• Egypt
• El Salvador
• Eritrea
• Georgia
• Grenada
• Guatemala
• Haiti
• India
• Mexico
• Morocco
• Mozambique
• Namibia
• Nigeria
• Pakistan
• Peru
• The Philippines
• Rwanda
• St. Kitts and Nevis
• Saudi Arabia
• Sierra Leone
• Tanzania
• Thailand
• Tunisia
• Ukraine
• Vietnam
• Zimbabwe