While the highlights of Carve are the talents and skills of the carvers from Finland, Germany, Japan, Russia, Canada and the US, no event would be complete without a little charity thrown in. Every $1 donated per spectator vote will go straight to a local-non-profit. “This is a unique opportunity for me to judge wonderful talent with four other amazing judges while also giving back to the community,” says Taro Arai, co-owner of Mikuni Restaurant Group, Inc. Carve’s lead judge, Lawrence Nobel, is an award-winning sculptor and illustrator who previously designed a Gold Medal for the 1984 Olympics. “We’re thrilled to work with Sapporo and support the incredible sculptures of team Japan.” To create some pre-event buzz for Carve Tahoe, Mikuni and Sapporo Beer created a food paring with a chance for guests to win a day pass lift to Northstar during the week of Carve Tahoe. Mikuni has created a Carve Roll, spicy salmon, cream cheese and asparagus tempura fried served with Spicy Dream sauce and Sea Steak sauce. The Carve Roll will be paired with a Sapporo draft for $12 or you can get just the Carve Roll for $10.