Detroit Harmonie’s International Experience Boasts All New – “Top Chef Detroit Challenge”

On Saturday, March 23, 2013, Detroit Harmonie hosted the third annual International Experience. This signature event was designed to celebrate the diversity of Detroit through live entertainment, music and food; and this year included a very new experience – Top Chef Detroit Challenge.

The Top Chef Detroit Challenge focused on everyone’s all-time favorite – the Coney Dog! That’s right, for all of the hot dog lovers in the world – this was the place to be on Saturday night.

The Chef Contenders and their Coney Dish:

Meet The Experts:

The Judges — Meet the judges (left to right): Joe Grimm, Alison Costello, Ron Rice, Alexis Wiley and Jeanette Pierce.

Joe Grimm basically wrote the bible on all Dogs Coney – learn for yourself by visiting his blog coneydetroit.com.

Alison Costello, Executive Chef and Site Director of Capuchin Soup Kitchen.

Ron Rice, former NFL legend for the Detroit Lions.

Alexis Wiley is an Emmy Award winning reporter from Fox 2 News who enjoys working, living and playing in the community of Detroit.

Jeanette Pierce, Director of Community Relations at D:Hive a true Detroiter, who knows everything there is to know about living in the D.

The judges were asked to not just measure what the participant cooking but to also base their decision on what the chef was doing with the prize money, community involvement and their creativity.

The Envelope Please……..(drum roll……)

The People’s Choice was awarded to Andy Hollyday for his French-inspired L’Haute Duck!

And the moment we have all been waiting for: The First Top Chef Detroit goes to Kate Williams – CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Who else enjoyed the “ Coney Dogs” on Saturday night?

A few of members of our U-Haul managers attended the event. They even had the opportunity to meet Mayor Bing, as you can see pictured below with Anthony Jones, general manager of the new U-Haul Moving and Self-Storage New Center. Also in attendance, was our general managers Clarence Vicent and James McClendon of U-Haul at Telegraph and U-Haul Moving and Storage of Clinton Township respectively.

Did you attend the Detroit Harmonie’s event? Did the judges make the right desicion? Where do you go to get the best coney dog in the D? Tell us about it below! – JoeyGirl

U-Haul Provides 108,000 Meals on Go Orange Day at St. Mary’s Food Bank

U-Haul® and St. Mary's Food Bank® have partnered for decades to help make life better for Arizonans — and for good reason. Both organizations have been headquartered in Phoenix since 1967. Both embrace missions centered on the notion that everyone should have access...

Season of Giving: U-Haul Helps Arizona Charities at Christmas

Santa’s “nice list” in Arizona grew especially long this past holiday season, as U-Haul® Team Members and their families throughout the Valley cheerfully donated their time and resources to help those less fortunate. Team Members filled the month of December with...

Detroit Community Detroit Harmonie Detroit Harmonie International Experience 2013 Top Chef Detroit Challenge

What’s New

The Origin of Orange: How a Color Came to Define a Company

Do you know orange came to be perpetually linked to America’s most iconic moving and self-storage company? Soon after U-Haul® was born in 1945, founder and WWII Navy veteran L.S. “Sam” Shoen was towing one of the Company’s first trailers through a four-way...

U-Haul VP Steve Dudley Named Honorary Commander at Luke AFB

Steve Dudley, U-Haul Vice President of Retail Sales, has been selected by Luke Air Force Base to be part of the 56th Fighter Wing Honorary Commander Program. Dudley was named an Honorary Commander for the 56th Logistics Readiness Squadron (56 LRS) and has been...

U-Haul Partners with Forests Canada to Support Healthy, Resilient Forests

To help Canada's forests better face the growing pressures of increasing wildfires, biodiversity loss, and extreme weather events, U-Haul® and national charity Forests Canada are launching a multi-year, national partnership called Healthy Forests for Future...

Hurricane Preparation: U-Haul Offers Help in 4 States ahead of Isaias

Six U-Haul® Companies spanning the northern Gulf Coast and all of Alabama and Mississippi are proactively offering 30 days of free self-storage and U-Box® container use at 101 stores in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi to residents in the path of Isaias,...

U-Haul Named 11th Healthiest Workplace in America

U-Haul® has received its highest national ranking for Team Member health and well-being, placing No. 11 on the 2026 Healthiest 100 Workplaces in America by Healthiest Employers®. The annual list honors organizations nationwide that demonstrate exceptional commitment...

Flood Relief: 30 Days Free Storage Offered in Nebraska, Iowa

Three U-Haul® Companies are offering 30 days of free self-storage and U-Box® container use at 35 U-Haul centers across Nebraska and Iowa to residents impacted by record rainfall and flooding. In Omaha, intense storms on Wednesday made it one of the city’s wettest days...

Best Sustainability Program: U-Box Load Share Named U.S. Chamber Award Finalist

U-Box® Load Share, the U-Haul® sharing-economy program that reduces freight emissions and customer costs for moving families, has been named a 2026 Best Sustainability Program finalist by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. The Foundation’s annual...

U-Haul Provides 108,000 Meals on Go Orange Day at St. Mary’s Food Bank

U-Haul® and St. Mary's Food Bank® have partnered for decades to help make life better for Arizonans — and for good reason. Both organizations have been headquartered in Phoenix since 1967. Both embrace missions centered on the notion that everyone should have access...

Hawk Fire: U-Haul Offers 30 Days Free Storage to Evacuees in Reno Area

Four U-Haul® facilities are offering 30 days of free self-storage and U-Box® container use to residents affected by the Hawk Fire burning northwest of Reno. The human-caused wildfire has burned more than 15,000 acres and prompted at least 42,000 evacuations, according...