GMC Breaking News

Mar 29, 2024, 7:05

GMC Breaking News

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Master Chef Contrisciani Joins Hocking College Culinary-Arts Program

news1_may12Alfonso Contrisciani, CMC, recently joined the Hocking College McClenaghan Center for Hospitality Training in Nelsonville, Ohio. Contrisciani has 32 years of culinary experience, including orchestrating several presidential dinners in Washington, D.C., as well as President Obama’s Inaugural Balls, and has been featured on Food Network.

He teaches savory, baking and pastry and meat-, poultry- and fish-fabrication classes at Hocking, and will serve as director of Continuing Education and Contract Food Service.

“Hocking College culinary program currently has all the elements key to training the chefs and hospitality operators of tomorrow,” Contrisciani said. “Located in the center of Ohio's agricultural district, the students have all the necessary sources of local and regionally produced fresh products to learn their craft.”

College of DuPage Culinary Instructor Wins 2012 Produce Excellence Award

news5_april12Chef David Kramer, associate professor of culinary arts at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Ill., is one of six chefs and foodservice professionals nationwide to win a 2012 United Fresh Produce Excellence in Foodservice Award. Nominated by Chicago-based Testa Produce, Inc., Kramer won in the Business in Industry & Colleges category. The awards program, created by the United Fresh Produce Association and sponsored by PRO*ACT, honors chefs and their companies for innovative and influential use of produce in the culinary arts.

The winners were selected from nearly 120 nominations submitted by produce companies and foodservice operations across North America. A panel of produce and foodservice-industry leaders reviewed each nominee’s demonstrated incorporation of fresh produce into menu development, use of protocols for correct storage and handling of produce, leadership in produce-related community service, and special events and recognition by their company and industry peers.

Kendall College School of Culinary Arts Chef-Instructor and Alumna Win Inaugural Professional Culinology® Competition

news4_april12The team of Eric Stein, M.S., R.D., a chef-instructor at the Kendall College School of Culinary Arts, and Jaime Mestan, C.S.C., a Kendall College culinary alum (‘08) and research chef at Ed Miniat, Inc., in South Holland, Ill., took first place in the inaugural Professional Culinology® Competition, March 23 in San Antonio, Texas, held in conjunction with the Research Chefs Association’s (RCA) Annual Conference and Culinology® Expo.

Stein and Mestan beat two other teams, winning a gold medal and a $5,000 cash award with their entry of lobster paella bites, chicken and white-bean empanadillas and loaded patatas bravas (a cherished white-potato tapa of Spain). The competition, which was sanctioned by the American Culinary Federation (ACF), called for entries to consist of three frozen heat-and-serve tapas suitable for serving in a casual restaurant chain.

The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone Names Scott Education Dean

news3_april12Russell Scott, one of only 66 Certified Master Chefs in the United States, has been named dean of education of The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) at Greystone, effective April 2, 2012. In his new role, Scott will be responsible for the quality and effectiveness of all education programs at the CIA campus in St. Helena, Calif. He will oversee faculty and staff on the education team, direct the development and delivery of the curriculum, and lead the support of students enrolled in the campus’ degree and certificate programs.

Scott was previously an associate professor at the college’s Hyde Park, N.Y., campus from 1998 to 2005. During that time, he taught several culinary courses and served as executive chef and instructor in the American Bounty Restaurant. “It is very gratifying to rejoin the CIA family and to once again be part of the jet stream of culinary knowledge,” he says. “I am indeed privileged to be able to work directly with the finest staff and faculty in hospitality education.”

Chartwells Hosts Chefs 2 Schools Junior Chef Competition at MSD Warren Township, Ind., with Special Guest Chef Cary Neff

news2_april12Culinary students at Warren Central High School, Indianapolis, Ind., cooked up a storm at the First Annual Junior Chef competition on March 6. Sponsored by Chartwells School Dining Services, the foodservice provider for MSD Warren Township, the students were honored to be supervised by Chef Cary Neff, vice president, Corporate Culinary Services, Morrison Management Specialists, which provides food, nutrition and dining services to the healthcare and senior-living industries.

The three finalists, Brittany Maxy, Christal Evans and Ariante Echols, winners of an Interview process, were observed by Neff on their preparation, sanitation skills, organization and presentation.

All three finalists are students of Threshold Restaurant, Warren’s onsite culinary-arts program located inside the Walker Career Center on the high-school campus. Threshold was named one of the “Hot 100” Secondary Culinary Programs in the United States for the 2010-2011 school year, under the guidance of Warren alumni and current instructor Carol Rice.

Monroe College School of Hospitality Management and the Culinary Arts Names America’s Best High School Chef and Pastry Chef

news1_april12On March 3, 31 high-school students from throughout the New York metro area competed for the distinguished titles of America’s Best High School Chef and Pastry Chef in the fourth-annual competition sponsored by the Monroe College School of Hospitality Management and the Culinary Arts in the Bronx.

The prizes were academic scholarships to attend Monroe College. First-place prize was a full academic scholarship to the Monroe College School of Hospitality Management; second- and third-place prizes were partial academic scholarships worth $3,500 and $2,500, respectively, and prizes for all competitors were partial academic scholarships worth $1,500. Monroe awarded more than $200,000 in scholarships to the contestants.

Yocary Luna of Food and Finance High School in Manhattan was crowned America’s Best High School Chef for her Stuffed Chicken—Teriyaki Style with sauté of fingerling potatoes and string beans.

Emmi Roth USA Announces Recipe Contest for Postsecondary Students Featuring Emmi Kaltbach Cave-Aged Le-Gruyere Switzerland AOC in Center-of-the-Plate Application

Contest Guidelines:

  • Recipes must be submitted in preferred format.
  • Entries must include at least one (1) high-resolution, digital photograph of finished dish.
  • Contest entrants must be currently enrolled in a postsecondary culinary school/program in the 50 United States. You must include name, email address, telephone number, mailing address, name of culinary school and name of referring culinary instructor with entry.
  • Contest entries become property of Emmi Roth USA and may be used in marketing/public-relations activities.
  • Entries must be the original work of the entrant, may not have won previous awards, may not have been published previously, and must not infringe third-party intellectual property or other rights.
  • April 13, 2012 DEADLINE FOR ALL ENTRIES
  • Entries must be emailed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with Emmi Roth USA in subject line.
  • Up to 50 free samples will be provided to the first 50 instructor respondents to contest posting, which started March 1, 2012. Sample will include up to 14 ounces of Emmi Kaltbach Cave-Aged Le Gruyere Switzerland AOC (two random-weight retail cuts, weighing 5 to 7 ounces each). Interested instructors should write to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with name, title, school/institution, shipping address (No P.O. boxes), telephone number and email address. Samples will be shipped via UPS from Monroe, Wis. Please allow approximately two weeks for delivery of samples from response date.

Prizes!

  • First- and second-place prices given at $1,000 and $500 respectively.
  • Prize winners will also receive an Emmi Roth USA cheese gift basket.
  • Referring instructor of the first- and second-place winners shall receive one (1) FREE registration to a 2012 CAFE Conference or Workshop.
  • Winning student(s) might be featured in a press release and/or Emmi Roth USA Newsletter.

Eligible recipe entries will be evaluated by a panel of Emmi Roth USA judges on creativity, novelty and/or uniqueness of application and flavor quality in the Center-of-the-Plate application. Winners will be notified on or before May 11, 2012, via telephone and certified mail. For complete info, click here.

Anne Arundel Community College Culinary Students Win Two Trophies at Gumbo Fest

news3_march12A team of Anne Arundel Community College culinary-arts students swept the competition at the 13th Annual Gumbo Fest in Annapolis. Team Anne Arundel won first place in both categories—the Judge’s Choice and People’s Choice—at the Feb. 26 competition at the Double Tree Hotel in Annapolis. Eleven other teams from area restaurants also competed in this year’s Gumbo Fest.

Team members included Stephanie Bishop (Arnold), Lora Pumphrey (Glen Burnie), Stephanie Silva (Belcamp) and Michael Willard (Annapolis). Proceeds of the event, which attracted about 400 members of the public, benefited the Light House homeless prevention support center in Annapolis.

“The secret to our winning recipe is the housemade andouille sausage and the four-hour roux,” said Chef John V. Johnson, CEC, CCE, AAC, an AACC instructional specialist and the Team Anne Arundel coach.

CIA President Tim Ryan Receives Inaugural Farm-to-Table Award

news2_march12Dr. Tim Ryan, CMC, president of The Culinary Institute of America (CIA), is the recipient of The Valley Table magazine’s first Farm-to-Table Award recognizing leadership in the support of regional agriculture. The award was presented to Ryan at the Hudson Valley Restaurant Week launch event at the college on February 28, 2012.

“The CIA’s commitment to sourcing ingredients and produce from regional farms has been a tremendous boon to farming in the Hudson Valley,” said Janet Crawshaw, publisher of The Valley Table and organizer of Restaurant Week. “Lessons in sustainable agriculture and sustainable cuisine have been integrated into the college curriculum, so the CIA is graduating chefs with a heightened awareness of and appreciation for local farm products.”

The French Pastry School's Scholarship Foundation Raises $105,000 for Students through For the Love of Chocolate Gala

On February 25, the halls of one of the biggest buildings in the world brimmed with activity as the best in the food industry came together to support the 7th Annual For the Love of Chocolate Foundation Gala. As star chefs served delicious morsels in the myriad showrooms of The Merchandise Mart in Chicago, models strutted in edible couture, a dance party gained momentum, and crowds gathered around a 9.5-by-6-by-5-foot replica of Chicago’s Cloud Gate covered entirely in Jelly Belly® Jelly Beans and Chocolate Dips®.

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