This downtown Merced eatery got a ‘Best of’ award at last week’s Fresno Food Expo

Merced’s Bella Luna Bistro recently won a taste competition in Fresno and was lauded for using locally-sourced ingredients.

A dozen central San Joaquin Valley restaurants competed in the event, which featured recipes using local ingredients.

The annual Fresno Food Expo pitted chefs against one another in the taste test judged by Simon Majumdar, a food and travel writer who’s been featured on “Cutthroat Kitchen” and other TV shows. The contest was part of an event called Expolicious.

Competitors were asked to come up with a dish using “fresh and exciting menu items unique to the region,” the release stated. The judge picked three winners, including giving “Best Use of Exhibitor Products” to Vinnie DeAngelo, owner and chef of Bella Luna.

“These people, the chefs showcasing local products are the backbone of this big food movement that is taking place right now,” DeAngelo said in the news release. “To win this award means everything. Simon Majumdar has judged the best chefs all around the world, so to have him here raving about our creations and our products brings validity to what we’re doing here.”

DeAngelo won with Bella Luna’s Farmers Market Salad made with Sunnyland Mills bulger wheat and quinoa, Traina sun-dried tomatoes, ENZO olive oil and sweet corn, roasted peppers and arugula from Fresno State. He also made a Harris Ranch Beef Slider with barbecue aioli and Deb’s Gourmet sweet smokey jalapenos and onion strings.

The 2017 Fresno Food Expo brought together 142 of central California’s finest food and beverage makers to showcase high quality local products, according to the release.

This story was originally published August 7, 2017 at 11:36 AM with the headline "This downtown Merced eatery got a ‘Best of’ award at last week’s Fresno Food Expo."