A team of five students enrolled in the Kendall College School of Culinary Arts won the Baron H. Galand Culinary Knowledge Bowl, marking the third consecutive time a Kendall College team has taken top honors.
The team also took home gold medals at the American Culinary Federation’s (ACF) 2012 Central Regional Conference in Detroit on April 15.
The Kendall College team, consisting of Gabriele Ausraite (captain), Robert Baki, Jacob Clara, Brenda Martinez, Paige Meagher, and Dustin Mehrtens, competed against nine teams from foodservice-training programs at schools throughout ACF’s Central Region, stretching from Minnesota to Louisiana.
As Central Regional champion, Kendall’s team—representing The School of Culinary Arts’ associate and baccalaureate programs—will compete for the national title against three regional finalists on July 15 at the ACF’s 2012 National Convention in Orlando. The team with the highest score will be named the national ACF Baron H. Galand Culinary Knowledge Bowl winner for 2012.
”We couldn’t be more proud of our students’ accomplishment,” says Renee Zonka, RD, CEC, CCE, dean of the Kendall College School of Culinary Arts.
“Their hard work and dedication to preparing for this year’s competition was remarkable, and competing for the national Knowledge Bowl title in July against other top regional teams will be an exciting and enriching educational experience. We’ll be there to cheer them on for what we hope is a third national title.”
This is the third year in a row that a Kendall College team, coached by chef-instructor Dina Altieri, CEC, CCE, has swept the annual regional competition. Kendall College won the national championship at the ACF’s annual convention in Dallas last year and in Anaheim, California, in 2010.
The Baron H. Galand Culinary Knowledge Bowl tests the acumen of culinary-arts students via a Jeopardy-style subject grid that includes challenging culinary, baking, nutrition, sanitation, and math questions, as well as sensory perception.
The competition is named after the late Chef Baron H. Galand, CEC, who served as national president of the ACF from 1983 to 1987. First held at the ACF’s 1992 National Convention in Washington, D.C., today the four geographic regions of the ACF hold the competition at their respective conferences in winter and spring to qualify teams to compete for the national title at the ACF’s convention in summer.
