BILLINGS – The Crave! NW Food Festival sold out all 700 tickets for Saturday night’s event.

“This is not a competition. It’s about celebrating the industry and spreading kindness,” said Ryan Hendrickson of US Foods, a sponsor of the event.

Organizers from Spokane, Washington, said the goal of the event is to use an “all boats rise” mentality to help counteract the 80% annual turnover rate in the restaurant industry.

“Because we don’t want to burden the chefs too much, we pay them to come here,” said Adam Hegsted, co-founder of Crave! NW.

Nick Steen is owner of Walkers and Bin 119 and one of 25 featured chefs at Saturday night’s event.

“For me to be here, it takes two people to staff each restaurant,” Steen said. “They pay us to cover the cost of the food and some of the labor to get our bodies here.”

Having worked as a professional chef in Billings for the past two decades, Steen believes the city is hungry for something fresh – an idea embodied by the presence of the food festival.

“There are several James Beard Award nominations here in the city limits,” Steen said. “After COVID, so many people moved to the city and became part of this community, a young, dynamic group of people who want to make a difference.”