INDIANAPOLIS – Indianapolis chef Craig Baker, executive chef at the Intercontinental Hotel in downtown Indianapolis, took home the top award at this year’s Taste of Elegance on Jan. 27 at the Indiana Roof Ballroom in Indianapolis. The premier chef’s competition, hosted by Indiana Pork, is a culinary event designed to inspire innovative and exciting ways to serve pork.

Each year, the Taste of Elegance competition brings talented chefs together to compete in the prestigious event created to encourage chefs to use pork more frequently in creative, non-traditional ways. The event attracts over 400 pig farmers, lawmakers and, ag industry leaders for an evening of elegance and celebration.

Baker’s dish featured a banana leaf–wrapped pork shoulder marinated in achiote and citrus and slow-roasted until meltingly tender. It was presented over fresh masa sopes with a silky black bean purée enriched with pork stock, finished with pineapple–habanero salsa, pickled onions, fresh cheese and micro cilantro. As the Taste of Elegance winner, Baker was presented with a check for $1,000 from Indiana Pork and an entry into the 2026 World Food Championships.

“Chef Baker is no stranger to food competitions,” said Jeanette Merritt, director of communications of Indiana Pork. “Chef is a previous winner of Taste of Elegance and has a great understanding of how to make pork taste delicious and design a plate that is appealing to the judges. His dish was an outstanding example of well-prepared pork.”