There’s nothing better than enjoying a nice meal and a cocktail in a tropical locale. This Monday night, The Florida Keys and Key West Cook-Off and Florida Keys Cocktail Competition is bringing a taste of the Keys to Philadelphia. Walnut Hill College will serve as the backdrop for a special cook-off that will feature 24 local food and travel influencers and writers. Instead of snapping, tweeting and blogging they will get on the other side of the stove and cook up two Florida Keys dishes under the direction of World Famous Keys’ Chef Bobby Stoky. In conjunction with the cook-off, four Philadelphia bartenders will mix up Keys-inspired cocktails. A winner from each competition wins a trip to the Florida Keys and Key West.

Key lime pie maker Kermit Carpenter displays one of his signature pies Friday, Nov. 8, 2013, outside his shop and bakery in Key West, Fla. Key lime pie, believed to have originated in Key West, is the Florida Keys’ most famous dessert and utilizes the juice of the tiny yellow Key lime. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY (Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau/HO)
As part of the Florida Keys and Key West Cook-Off at Walnut Hill College, one lucky bartender will walk away with a vacation! Four of Philly’s most talented bartenders are getting a chance to get away from it all for a two night three day trip to the Florida Keys. Participants are from the just-opened Dim Sum House in University City, South Street Headhouse’s Whetstone Tavern, and Rittenhouse Row’s Fine Palate and Vesper.
While tickets for the event are sold out, you can still help pick the cocktail winner. Besides the trip, the winning bartender’s cocktail will be featured on the menu at Pat Croce’s Florida Keys restaurant for a week. Click here to cast your vote for your favorite Keys-inspired cocktail. When you arrive on the Facebook page for Half Shell Raw Bar, then click like on the photo for your favorite cocktail.
Your votes, along with the votes of the guests at the event, will help Philly-favorite Pat Croce (who owns several bars in the Keys!) crown a winner.

Florida Keys-inspired Cocktail Competition including newly opened Dim Sum House
For more information about the Cook-Off click here. For more about planning your own trip to Florida Keys and Key West click here. Keep up with all of the action by following by using #FLKeysCookOff