Print this Page

Navigation

Content

SUNY DELHI TEAM, STUDENT BOUND FOR NATIONAL CULINARY CHAMPIONSHIP

DELHI, NY … SUNY Delhi’s student culinary team has won the American Culinary Federation (ACF) 2008 Northeast Region Student Team Championship for the second consecutive year and now advances to the National Championship held at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas July 14-17.

SUNY Delhi has the distinction of being the only team from New York State to have gone on to the nationals, winning eight American Culinary Federation State Championships. SUNY Delhi is also the only New York State team to ever win the ACF Northeastern Regional Championship in the 18-year history of the event, and now the team has secured that title for a fourth time.

“Delhi’s performances at these ACF competitions demonstrate why the college is known as a culinary arts education leader. The students continually perform at a level that goes well beyond their years,” said Chef Tom Recinella, CEC, AAC, associate professor of culinary arts, who coaches SUNY Delhi’s hot food team with culinary arts instructors Julee Miller and Jessica Backus-Foster.

The Delhi team made its way through a grueling schedule, competing at the state level in February, and then moving on to the regional championship in Cincinnati, Ohio, before finally earning a spot at the nationals. There, they will come up against three other teams from around the country. Each team represents one of the four ACF regions.

Members of the winning team include Brianne Slocum, team captain, a third-year student from Taberg, Tammy Peters, a second-year student from Endicott, Sarah Thurgood, a second-year student from Bovina Center, Tami Eicholz, a fourth-year student from Israel, and Jillian Naveh, alternate, a second-year student from Wantagh.

In addition to winning the ACF’s regional championship in Cincinnati, Delhi culinary arts student Nick Hernandez of North Salem was named 2008 ACF Northeast Region Student Culinarian of The Year.  As the Northeast Region Champion, Hernandez will advance to the national convention where he will vie for the national title. The Student Culinarian of the Year recognizes an up-and-coming student who possesses a high degree of professionalism, culinary skill, and passion for the culinary arts. Hernandez competed as captain of SUNY Delhi’s 2007 culinary team and is the first Delhi student to earn a regional distinction as an individual competitor.

SUNY Delhi’s culinary arts program has gained a national reputation for excellence. Regarded as one of the best in the country by many industry professionals, the program offers students a firm foundation in which to start their careers as culinary professionals. The college’s culinary labs progress through basic skills dealing with Garde Manger, baking, sauces, stocks, etc., to the capstone course, Signatures by Candlelight, a full service fine dining restaurant that is open to the public and operated completely by SUNY Delhi students. In addition to the core classes, there are numerous culinary electives offered to help each student customize their portfolio of education. Depending on their interest or direction in the field, students can choose from electives such as advanced meat cutting, culinary competition, advanced pastries and confections and culinary sculpting, which uses 300-pound ice blocks made on campus by culinary students in the college’s own ice sculpting lab.

SUNY Delhi was one of the first colleges in New York State to introduce Hospitality Management at the associate degree level and has become a recognized leader in hospitality education. Delhi also offers the only Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Hospitality Management in New York State. With its full range of majors in Restaurant and Foodservice Management, Hotel and Resort Management, Travel and Tourism Management, and Culinary Arts, SUNY Delhi prepares graduates for careers in one of the fastest growing industries in the United States.

-30-

14N0408/KMM