The Chicago Chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier International (LDEI) recently awarded scholarships totaling $22,500 to female students enrolled in professional culinary- and baking/pastry-arts programs throughout greater Chicago.

For more than 30 years, Les Dames d’Escoffier–Chicago has awarded scholarships to women pursuing careers in food, nutrition, wine and hospitality while enrolled full time in certificate- and degree-granting programs in Chicago-area postsecondary institutions. This year, scholarships in amounts of $5,000, $2,500 and $1,250 were granted based on academic performance, dedication to community service and financial need. Additionally, each recipient will be assigned a mentor from the local LDEI chapter to share expertise and guidance.

“Women are a significant force in Chicago’s vibrant culinary and hospitality scenes,” says Judith Dunbar Hines, chair of the 2013 Scholarship Committee of LDEI–Chicago and owner of Judith Dunbar Hines Culinary Services. “Since 1982, our members have lived our philanthropic mission in part by annually distributing scholarships and grants to assist women pursuing their passion. We’re proud, in our 31th year, to continue this grand tradition by recognizing and assisting seven talented students with the potential to become rising stars in the realm of food.”

Kristen Thibeault of Le Cordon Blue College of Culinary Arts in Boston is the winner of the 11^th-annual S.Pellegrino Almost Famous Chef Competition. She competed in multiple cooking competitions for the accolades, proving excellence at The Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley, Calif.

Thibeault outshined nine competing peers from the United States and Canada with her signature dish, Porcini Crusted Vegan “Sweetbreads.” Her dish concept was formulated in October and had since been developed and refined, all toward the intense three-day competition. In addition to those in the kitchen, the front-of-house judge panel, Michelin Star and James Beard Foundation award-winning chefs—Tony Mantuano of Spiaggia; Rick Moonen of RM Seafood; Michel Richard of Citronelle; Mark McEwan of One; Susur Lee of LEE Restaurant; and Jean Joho of Everest—furthered the development of Thibeault through mentorship and critiques.

Throughout the weekend, all finalists were in the spotlight of culinary-focused media influencers, who also served as active judges, including Dana Cowin of Food & Wine, Betsy Andrews of Saveur, Mitchell Davis of The James Beard Foundation, Jacob Richler of Maclean’s and Sophie Gayot of gayot.com.

“The culinary industry is competitive and there is not a competition of this nature that exists for students,” said Mantuano. “It is really necessary to have a competition like this for our next generation of great chefs.”

Fourteen high-school students representing Technology Center of DuPage (TCD) in Addison, Ill., placed among the top 10 in five contests—including a 1-2-3 sweep in Commercial Baking—at the 2013 Illinois SkillsUSA Leadership and Skills Conference. The annual state championships were held April 11-13 in Springfield with more than 1,300 participants competing in nearly 100 contests.

TCD’s culinary students had a particularly strong showing. Three seniors swept the top spots in the Commercial Baking division: Jonathan Bedell of Naperville (first place), Christine Hood of Darien (second), and Christopher Reusz of Downers Grove (third). In the same contest, two more TCD seniors—Briana Wills of Lombard and Alan Topalovic of Woodridge—placed fifth and eighth, respectively.

Winners of the 2013 C-CAP Meatless Monday Chili Recipe Contest were announced in March by Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP), the national leader providing scholarships, education and career opportunities in the culinary arts to underserved youth, and Meatless Monday, an initiative of the nonprofit The Monday Campaigns, which provides healthy and environmentally friendly information and recipes.

Thousands of C-CAP high-school seniors became “head chefs” in their classrooms and were introduced to the Meatless Monday public-health campaign encouraging everyone to start each week with a healthy meal. While working with their culinary-arts teachers to concoct the original meatless chili entrée, the teens were encouraged to use the recipe contest to explore new fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes.

On March 2, Monroe College hosted more than 40 high-school students from throughout the New York City metro area as they competed for the titles of America’s Best High School Chef and Pastry Chef in the fifth-annual competition sponsored by the Monroe College School of Hospitality Management and the Culinary Arts in The Bronx.

First-, Second- and Third-Place Winners

America's Best Chef:

1. Abdallah Farraj, Port Richmond High School, Staten Island

2. Anthony Evans, Harry S. Truman High School, Bronx

3. Carlesha Alston, Food and Finance High School, Manhattan

The team of Eric Stein, MS, RD, CCE, a chef-instructor at the Kendall College School of Culinary Arts, and Jaime Mestan, CSC, a Kendall culinary alum (’08) and research chef at Ed Miniat, Inc., in South Holland, Ill., took second place, a silver medal and a cash award of $3,000 at the second-annual Professional Culinology® Competition, March 8 in Charlotte, N.C., held in conjunction with the Research Chefs Association’s (RCA) Annual Conference and Culinology Expo.

Stein and Mestan beat two other teams with their three-concept entry that comprised an “N.C. BLT,” fried shrimp-and-grits ravioli with Texas Pete dipping sauce, and “The Ultimate Southern Sundae.” The competition, which was sanctioned by the American Culinary Federation (ACF), called for two-person teams to submit menu ideas reflecting North Carolina regional cuisine via an appetizer for fine dining, a shareable appetizer for casual dining and a fine-dining or casual-dining dessert.

Prior to the competition, teams prepared their concepts and shipped them frozen to Charlotte. On competition day, each team created the fresh versions of its commercialized concepts and was judged in part against how well the plated, commercialized products matched up against the gold standards prepared on site. Entries were judged by a panel of culinary R&D experts against criteria that included originality of concept, nutritional profile, manufacturing feasibility, flavor, aroma, texture, presentation and safety standards.