GMC Breaking News

Jun 6, 2025, 22:17

GMC Breaking News

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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®.

The American Culinary Federation Makes Culinary Training Easy with New ACF Apprenticeship Training Modules and Book

news1_march12Do you want to teach your staff or students about a specific area of the professional kitchen? Are you looking for a comprehensive yet concise resource? If so, the American Culinary Federation’s (ACF) latest series, National Apprenticeship Training Program for Cooks, and its accompanying CD-ROM resources, is for you. Compiled and published by American Technical Publishers (ATP), the 10 modules are available for $25 each, with a 25% discount for purchases of five or more. A compiled textbook, containing content from each of the modules, is also available for $80.

The series outlines culinary techniques that have been validated by the culinary industry and sanctioned by the U.S. Department of Labor and the American Culinary Federation Education Foundation (ACFEF) National Apprenticeship Committee. Each month, ACF will highlight a new module on its website, www.acfchefs.org

Recently Opened Tuyo at Miami Culinary Institute Sets the Table for Food-Culture Innovation

news5_feb12Since its opening last spring, the Miami Culinary Institute (MCI) at Miami Dade College (MDC) has made an immediate impact on the community and beyond with a cornucopia of programs and activities that please the palate whether one is a student, food enthusiast or culinary-industry professional. Last autumn, the Institute turned up the heat with the opening of its rooftop restaurant, Tuyo, an exquisite fusion of New World cuisine under the direction of award-winning chef Norman Van Aken.

“This is a momentous occasion for the college and the Florida culinary scene,” says college president Dr. Eduardo J. Padrón. “We set out to be revolutionary with the MCI, and Tuyo is a key ingredient in carrying out this vision.”

Certified Master Chef Brad Barnes Named New Head of Continuing Education at The Culinary Institute of America

news4_feb12Certified Master Chef and culinary industry veteran Brad Barnes ('87), CMC, CCA, AAC, has been named senior director of continuing education at The Culinary Institute of America (CIA).

Barnes previously served as senior director of culinary education at the CIA, where he helped restructure the associate-degree programs and played an integral part in the development and implementation of the new CIA Academic Delivery System.

Working from the school’s Hyde Park, N.Y., campus, Barnes will introduce innovations to the existing three-part curriculum in the department: Food Enthusiast classes, including Culinary Boot Camps and weekend classes; the ProChef® Certification program; and CIA Consulting, which offers creative marketing and menu solutions to the industry.

Kendall College Board of Directors Names Emily Williams Knight President

news3_feb12The Kendall College Board of Directors has named Emily Williams Knight president of Kendall College. Knight brings more than 15 years of experience in the education and hospitality industry to her role at Kendall College. Dr. Karen Gersten, who served as president of Kendall College since 2010, has been named Vice President of Academic Affairs in the Institutional Quality and Integrity Unit of the Global Products and Services Group at Laureate Education, Inc.

Knight joined Laureate Education, Inc., in 2011 as a vice president responsible for globally expanding access to the company’s hospitality-management, culinary-arts and art-and-design programs. She previously was the CEO of New England University LLC. Knight formerly worked at Pearson Education for more than 10 years, most recently serving as vice president of marketing and sales strategies for Pearson Teacher Education and Development.

Ronald DeSantis, CMC, AAC, CHE, of Yale University Named ACF Certification Commission Chair

news2_feb12Certified Master Chef® (CMC®) Ronald DeSantis, AAC®, CHE, of Staatsburg, N.Y., began his two-year term as chair of the American Culinary Federation, Inc. (ACF) Certification Commission at the group’s bi-annual meeting in Orlando, Fla., Jan. 13-14. DeSantis, director of culinary excellence and quality assurance for Yale Dining at Yale University, New Haven, Conn., says he and the commission’s 16 other current members will focus on increasing the awareness and credibility of ACF certification.

“My vision for the commission is to develop and project the message of certification relevance beyond ACF,” DeSantis said. “Members know certification’s value and importance. We need to make the dining public and foodservice employers aware of the value of certified chefs.”

ACF certification is based on education, experience and completion of official coursework and exams. ACF certification credentials distinguish culinary professionals as leaders in the culinary field, and demonstrate skill and expertise to peers and potential employers. Currently, more than 11,500 professionals hold ACF certification.

New Dining and Lodging Experience in Greater Chicago Provides Real-Life Training to College of DuPage Students without Their Leaving Campus

news1_feb12When the state-of-the-art, 60,000-square-foot Culinary & Hospitality Center opened on the College of DuPage campus in Glen Ellyn, Ill., just west of Chicago in October 2011, culinary-arts and hospitality students got a bonus: a fine-dining restaurant and boutique hotel. The Waterleaf Restaurant, serving lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch, and six-room Inn at Water’s Edge give students in the college’s Culinary Arts and Hospitality program the opportunity to gain real-life experience working alongside professionals.

Guests of the inn discover the comforts of a world-class boutique hotel: from the eco-friendly design and the French doors overlooking a pond surrounded by a lavishly manicured landscape to the vaulted ceilings that allow the room to fill with natural light.

Other amenities include luxurious bathroom touches, wireless Internet, a flat-screen TV and more. Services include private keyed access to the hotel floor and rooms, a concierge lounge serving Continental breakfast daily, bell staff offering luggage assistance, in-room dining service for lunch and dinner available through Waterleaf, and special touches like a nightly turndown service. Nightly rates range from a reasonable $99 to $129. The inn allows College of DuPage students to complete hands-on training in all service areas.

The Art Institute of Washington Hosts Chefs of Tomorrow™ Media Dinner and Is Awarded Grant from Olson Communications

news5_jan12Students dazzled editors representing some of the food industry’s most prominent publications at the 2011 Chefs of Tomorrow™ media dinner held at The International Culinary School at The Art Institute of Washington in Arlington, Va., on November 9 during the International Foodservice Editorial Council (IFEC) Conference.

The elegant, multicourse dinner in the school’s public fine-dining restaurant, Culinaire, featured innovative use of products from companies represented by Chicago-based Olson Communications, a full-service agency that specializes in delivering innovative marketing-communication strategy to its portfolio of select food-industry clients.

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