Monroe College names Best High School Chefs

Monroe College's School of Hospitality Management and the Culinary Arts selected the winners of its second annual America's Best High School Chef scholarship contest, held in April at its Culinary Arts Center in New Rochelle, N.Y. Twelve high school students from around the country interested in pursuing associate degrees in culinary arts and baking and pastry arts competed for scholarship money toward Monroe College as well as the chance to qualify for a semester abroad in Italy.

(l to r) Best High School Pastry Chef Jessica Johnson, Monroe College School of Hospitality Management dean Frank Costantino and Best High School Culinary Arts Chef Gabriela Grande

The top culinary arts scholarship winner was Gabriela Grande, a senior at Food & Finance High School in New York City. Jessica Johnson, a senior at The Warwick Career and Technical Center, Warwick, R.I., was the pastry arts scholarship winner. Grande's winning dish was spinach and mushroom-seared chicken stuffed with cheese, and Johnson's Nutella, chocolate and hazelnut tart won her top honors. Both women will receive full scholarships to Monroe's associate degree programs, worth approximately $32,000 each.

ACF Southeast Regional Conference winners to advance

At the 2010 American Culinary Federation (ACF) Southeast Regional Conference April 24 to 26 in Birmingham, Ala., the American Academy of Chefs awarded a $1,000 grant to the Southeast Region Student Team Regional Champions, ACF Chefs of the Low Country. The ACF Southeast Regional Conference also recognized the other student, educator and chef winners, who will compete for national titles against their winning regional counterparts at the 2010 ACF National Convention in Anaheim, Calif., Aug. 2 to 5.

Among the student and chef-educator winners were:
Student Team Regional Championship, sponsored by R.L. Schreiber Inc.
ACF Chefs of the Low Country, Bluffton, S.C., students from Savannah Technical College, Savannah, Ga.: Valarie Barnes, Zebulon Berry, Elizabeth Estes, Alexander Jabr, Kevin Jump and coach Jean Vendeville, CEPC

Chef Educator of the Year
Kenneth Bourgoin, CEC, chef-instructor, Valencia Community College, Orlando; ACF Central Florida Chapter

Hermann G. Rusch Chef's Achievement Award
Donald McMillan, CEC, AAC, chef-instructor, The Stocked Pot Cooking School, Winston-Salem, N.C.; ACF Triad Chapter N.C.

Student Chef of the Year, sponsored by Custom Culinary Inc.
Daniel Gorman, line cook, Cherokee Town and Country Club, Atlanta; ACF National Chapter

Baron H. Galand Culinary Knowledge Bowl, sponsored by American Technical Publishers
Lincoln Culinary Institute, West Palm Beach, Fla., members of ACF Palm Beach County Chefs Association: Hitesh Arora, CC, CPC; Andrew Croney, CPC; Glendon David; Francois Leonce; Jami Yaccarino; and coach Steve Sitnick

Ciao Italia's Esposito cooks with Delcastle HS students

On April 23 Mary Ann Esposito of PBS's "Ciao Italia" hosted a sold-out demonstration at Delcastle Technical High School, Wilmington, Del., to help the culinary arts students prepare for a benefit for their upcoming cooking excursion to Italy. The students prepared the menu, inspired by Esposito's cookbook Five-Ingredient Favorites, to be sampled by the 200 attendees of the fundraiser. Esposito also shared stories and advice with the students.

Mary Ann Esposito (center) with culinary students from Delcastle Technical High School

The event benefits the students' July trip to the Marche region of Italy, where they will spend 12 days in an intense immersion program focusing on cooking classes with local chefs, language learning, winery tours and leadership development. The use of locally produced ingredients, marketability of sustainable goods and the appreciation for diversity is the focus of the cultural exchange. For more information, visit www.CooksAndBakers.com.

FIU's new student center under way

Florida International University (FIU) School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Biscayne Bay, Fla., is building a new student gathering place and resource center upon receiving a gift from Miami-based Carnival Cruise Lines and its parent company Carnival Corp.

The 2,600-square-foot Carnival Student Center, next to the campus' bayside terrace, is being renovated and repurposed to create a place for students to meet, hold get-togethers and student organization meetings, work on group projects and create presentations in the computer center. Student organizations and industry representatives scouting interns and employees will be able to meet in the fully equipped conference rooms.

(l to r) Gerald R. Cahill, CEO and president, Carnival Cruise Lines; Joan Remington, interim dean, School of Hospitality and Tourism Management; Mark B. Rosenberg, FIU president; Jim Berra, senior vice president and chief marketing officer, Carnival Corp.; and Linda Coll, director, Carnival Foundation

FIU president Mark B. Rosenberg, FIU School of Hospitality and Tourism Management interim dean Joan Remington and FIU Board of Trustees chairman Albert E. Dotson Sr. joined Carnival Cruise Lines president and CEO Gerald R. Cahill, Carnival Foundation director Linda Coll, Jim Berra, Carnival senior vice president and chief marketing officer and guests on April 5 to break ground on the new center at FIU's Biscayne Bay campus.

For more information on FIU's School of Hospitality please visit hospitality.fiu.edu.

Kendall students win regional Culinary Knowledge Bowl

On March 26 a five-student team from the School of Culinary Arts at Kendall College, Chicago, won the Baron H. Galand Culinary Knowledge Bowl and earn gold medals at the American Culinary Federation's (ACF) 2010 Central Regional Conference in Indianapolis on March 26.

The Kendall team, consisting of Allison Chikos, Erika Giffin, Sarah Roberts, Jacquie Wallner and Edward Whitney, beat out 11 teams from foodservice-training programs at schools throughout ACF's Central Region. The team will compete for the title of national ACF Baron H. Galand Culinary Knowledge Bowl winner against three other winning regional teams at the 2010 ACF National Convention in Anaheim, Calif., Aug. 2 to 5.

The Baron H. Galand Culinary Knowledge Bowl tests culinary students' knowledge through a "Jeopardy"-style subjects grid that includes culinary, baking, nutrition, sanitation and math questions as well as sensory perception. For more information, visit www.acfchefs.org.

RCA announces '10 award winners

The Research Chefs Association (RCA) announced its 2010 award winners at the RCA Annual Luncheon on March 20, during the association’s Annual Conference & Culinary Expo. Each year, the RCA presents awards that recognize the industry's most dedicated and influential members.

President's Awards

• Darryl L. Holliday, Louisiana State University
• Robin Schempp, Right Stuff Enterprises
• Robert Danhi, Chef Danhi & Co., Mortar & Press
• Chef Kurt Stiles, Pure Living
  

Pioneer Award
Michael Lonteen, CEC, Custom Culinary Inc.

Lifetime Achievement Award
Dr. Jerald Chesser, CEC, FMP, CCE, AAC, The Collins College of Hospitality Management at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, Calif.

This year the RCA also held a Student Culinology Competition, in which six student teams competed for first prize and $5,000 cash. Each team developed a frozen, restaurant-quality gourmet vegetarian meal for a fictional retail grocery chain, which had to be inspired by Southwestern cuisine. The winning team prepared a blue corn tortilla stuffed with black beans and quinoa accompanied by chipotle roasted potatoes and Southwestern succotash with a roasted red pepper and chimichurri sauce.

The winners were:

First place
Johnson & Wales University--Providence, R.I.

Second place
University of Cincinnati

Third place
University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada

The 2011 RCA Annual Conference and Culinology Expo is scheduled to take place next March in Atlanta. For more information, visit www.culinology.org.

IBIE '10 launching comprehensive education program

The International Baking Industry Exposition (IBIE) 2010, which takes place in Las Vegas Sept. 26 to 29, is launching a comprehensive educational conference to take place during the expo. The seminar program now includes 57 sessions on such topics as baking technology, food safety and security, business management and marketing, cake and cooking decorating, artisan bread making and healthy baking. More than 700 exhibitors will showcase new technologies, equipment and products to help attendees from the grain-based foods industry strengthen their competitive position and find new opportunities to maximize profits.

IBIE is sponsored by AIB International, the Retail Bakers of America, The Bread Bakers Guild of America, the Tortilla Industry Association, the American Bakers Association and Bakery Equipment Manufacturers and Allieds. Visit www.bakingexpo.org for more information.