Seven-Year-Old Rathdrum, Idaho Boy Invents America's Next Gourmet Burger

Move over cheeseburger, Rathdrum, Idaho resident, 7-year-old Charlie Beckett has created America's next gourmet burger - the 'Holy-Peño Burger.' After a Championship cook-off today against nine other kid finalists from across the country, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc. (Red Robin), the gourmet burger expert, selected Beckett's 'Holy-Peño Burger' - made with jalapeños, Cajun spices, pepper-jack cheese, to name a few ingredients - as the winner of the third annual 'The Next Gourmet Burger Kids' Recipe Contest.' The 'Holy-Peño Burger' will be served in Red Robin(R) restaurants next summer, with a portion of the sales from the winning burger donated to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) to support its child safety initiatives. The winning gourmet burger also will be featured in an online kids' cookbook available for free download next summer at www.redrobin.com.

Beckett's 'Holy-Peño Burger' was selected by Red Robin as the grand-prize-winning gourmet burger from among 10 finalists during the Championship event today at The International Culinary SchoolSM at The Art Institute of Colorado in Denver. During the competition, Beckett and the nine other contestants made their burgers for a panel of six judges, including Red Robin burger experts and Colorado-based food experts, including guest judge Chef Tyler Wiard of Elway's restaurants.

'It was a thrill to be part of the judging panel for Red Robin's 'The Next Gourmet Burger Kids' Recipe Contest' Championship and to celebrate and encourage kids' creativity in the kitchen,' said Wiard. 'It was difficult to choose just one of the finalists' delicious burgers as the winner, but the Holy-Peño Burger stood out from the rest with its impressive gourmet flavor combination of Cajun spices and jalapeños.'

Beckett's 'Holy-Peño Burger' was chosen from more than 14,000 burger recipe entries submitted online and at Red Robin(R) restaurants throughout the U.S. over the summer. The top 10 finalist recipes for the Championship event were chosen based on their inventive combination of ingredients, fun flavors and compelling 100-word statement on why their burger deserved to be selected as America's Next Gourmet Burger.

'We named Charlie's 'Holy-Peño Burger' as the winner of this year's 'The Next Gourmet Burger Kids' Recipe Contest' because it best exemplifies cooking creatively, and offers a new, flavorful twist on the gourmet burgers already featured on our menu,' said Susan Lintonsmith, Red Robin chief marketing officer. 'At Red Robin, we take great pride in being the Gourmet Burger experts and providing all our guests the opportunity to try new, mouthwatering burgers like Charlie's.'

In addition to having his burger sold at Red Robin(R) restaurants next summer, Beckett has won a family vacation to Universal Orlando(R) Resort, and will be invited to attend Red Robin's Smiling Burger Championship in Southern California in January 2009, at which Red Robin team members from across the U.S. compete in a gourmet-burger-making contest.

Three runners up also were selected during the event: 12-year-old Danielle Lampitt from Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., who created 'The Oh So Gouda Burger,' 11-year-old Brendan Schott from Muskegon, Mich., who created the 'Cheesy Pizza Paradise Burger,' and 10-year-old Adley Piccolo from Chesapeake, Va., who created the 'Fireside Burger.'

The 10 finalists' gourmet burger recipes, along with 40 other kid-invented burger recipes submitted through the contest, will be included in a cookbook available for FREE to download online at www.redrobin.com next summer. In addition to the kids' recipes, the cookbook will include NCMEC tips and conversation starters for kids and parents to discuss Back-to-School safety while cooking together. NCMEC is a non-profit organization whose mission is to help prevent child abduction and sexual exploitation, help find missing children, and assist victims of child abduction and sexual exploitation, their families, and the professionals who serve them.

For more information about Red Robin, or to find the restaurant nearest you, please visit www.redrobin.com. Please visit www.missingkids.com for additional information about NCMEC.

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