National Culinary Review

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Visit the ACF website, www.acfchefs.org,
for more information and updates.
June;11,;2011

Southeast Food Service News

June;25-27,;2011

Members of ACF Tampa Bay Culinary Association Inc. with youth from All Children’s Hospital’s Fit4AllKids program at a recent nutrition presentation. Chefs, from left to right, Tom Pham, CC, Don LaCasse, Wick Gill and Vince Blancato.

Members of ACF Tampa Bay Culinary Association Inc. are doing their part to educate kids about healthy cooking through a variety of Chef & Child Foundation initiatives. In February, Vince Blancato and Ray Benton, CEC, HAAC, visited third-graders at Northwest Elementary School, Hudson, Fla., where they constructed a compost bin and planted vegetables with students. They will meet with the school’s foodservice team to develop ways to include more fruits and vegetables on the school menu.

Christopher Johns, right, chairman of Chefs for Kids, with Thalia Dondero at the organization’s annual fundraiser, March 25 in Las Vegas.

More than 400 guests gathered at Bally’s Las Vegas March 25 for the Chefs for Kids annual fundraising dinner. Thalia Dondero, a Las Vegas legend, was honored for her years of support to Chefs for Kids and the community. Chefs for Kids, Inc. is a joint venture between members of ACF Chefs Las Vegas and the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension. The program works to eliminate malnutrition and hunger through education and awareness in 12 high-needs schools in Nevada’s Clark County School District. More than $120,000 was raised to help fuel the organization’s mission.

September;22-25,;2011

Chapter members also work with the Fit4AllKids program at All Children’s Hospital, St. Petersburg, Fla., helping families of obese and/or diabetic children plan, shop for and prepare a meal. In March, the chapter joined with USDA’s Team Nutrition Days to prepare nutritious and balanced breakfasts at low-income elementary schools in South Tampa. Additionally, the chapter’s ABCs of Food program teaches young children about a new food item as each letter of the alphabet is introduced.

March 15-16, students from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, including Ian Pearce, pictured, put their knives and whisks away and picked up chainsaws and chisels for a lesson in ice carving. Students participated in a special workshop held during the 2011 World Ice Art Championships in Fairbanks highlighting how ice carving can add to students’ foodservice skills. Luis Manuel Martinez, CCC, program assistant in the culinary arts and hospitality department at the university and secretary of ACF Midnight Sun Chefs Association helped organize the event for students.