Todd Leonard had an unusual way to prepare to compete for the National Chef of the Year title. The Utah chef spent two days cooking for the Draper Utah Riverview Stake's Pioneer Trek, creating outdoor meals to nourish and strengthen about 250 hungry "pioneers."
Leonard then hopped on a plane for Dallas, arriving in time for the "Iron Chef"-type competition among four of the country's top chefs during the American Culinary Federation's annual conference July 22-26.
He won the ACF's Western Region Chef of the Year title in May for a spot in the competition. Although he didn't end up winning the national title (which went to Todd Kelly of the Cincinnati Hilton Plaza) he has no regrets.