Contest winner Martha Bralkowski

When it comes to culinary contests, this one cleans up.

OK, bad pun, but it’s still a good win for Martha Bralkowski, who owns Jordan’s Bar and Grill in Ridgway, Pa.

She has been named the Dawn Professional Winner in the ‘Make Your Restaurant Shine’ contest.  As the winner, she and her family were flown to Chicago for the National Restaurant Association Show and given a $20,000 check by Chef Spike Mendolsohn of the TV show, Top Chef.

Here’s what he had to say:

‘I am honored and excited to have been selected by Dawn Professional,” Bralkowski said.  “We opened Jordan’s last November by scraping together resources to follow our passion for food. My staff deserves the best and my kitchen desperately needs an overhaul, so this award comes at the perfect time for Jordan’s.’

Bralkowski plans to use her winnings mainly to purchase a new walk-in freezer. She will also receive a one-on-one expert consultation at her restaurant with Chef Mendelsohn later this year. An experienced restaurateur, he will provide expert advice on how to best use the award, share feedback on Jordan’s menu and discuss how to use social media for success.  Tips from this session will be featured at www.DawnCelebrations.com.

‘Dawn Professional has always been a trusted partner of the restaurant industry, providing products and resources to help restaurants succeed. ‘Make Your Restaurant Shine’ is a way for us to help one deserving restaurant owner – Ms. Bralkowski – in a very personal way,” said Eric Hetrick, director, P&G Professional. “We hope this $20,000 award will help make Jordan’s Bar & Grill an even bigger part of the Ridgway, Pa., community.’
  
The ‘Make Your Restaurant Shine’ program was created by Dawn Professional to support the restaurant community with both the funding and information needed to succeed today.  The contest was first launched in early 2010 after, in 2009, the restaurant industry experienced the sharpest decline in traffic since 1981.