PAELLA, PLEASE!
Four finalists competed for $1,000 in the Paella, Please! cooking competition, sponsored
by Riviana Foods, Inc., July 24. Samuel Murillo, executive sous chef at Talking Stick Resort,
Scottsdale, Ariz., took home top honors for his Southwestern paella with cilantro cream.
Ty also cited a need to do a better job of
retaining young/student culinarian members,
as well as all members. He said there is a
program in place to pay memberships for
one year for proven hardship cases. He
said the vision for the next two years is to
reach out to student culinarians and retain
members through networking.
Ty recognized teams that participated in
the Student Culinarian Invitational and
reported on funds raised at Saturday’s
event, as well as other donations received
throughout the convention.
Ty said ACF will continue in its branding
efforts, citing Chefs Outreach to the
Community day. He said the organization
would also be partnering with Gerry
Fernandez, president/founder of the
Multicultural Foodservice & Hospitality
Alliance, on an ACF diversity program.
He also advocated bringing all sister
organizations together to collaborate.
At both General Sessions, ACF honored
individuals and companies as follows:
Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, Madison,
Wis., ACF Industry Partnership Award;
Joe Aiello, CEC, AAC, chef/owner, Apropo
Catering, Schiller Park, Ill., a member of
ACF Chicago Chefs of Cuisine, Inc., ACF
Immediate Past President’s Award; and
Jeffrey Rotz, AAC, culinary educator,
Chefs Helping Chefs, LLC, Eustis, Fla.,
a member of ACF Gulf to Lakes Chefs
& Cooks Association, Inc., Chapter
Communicator of the Year.
ACF ACHIEVEMENT OF EXCELLENCE AWARDS
Back Door Café, Johnstown, Pa.
Café Cimino Country Inn, Sutton, W.Va.
Canterbury Golf Club, Cleveland
Casola Dining Room at Schenectady County
Community College, Schenectady, N. Y.
Eagle Oaks Golf & Country Club,
Farmingdale, N.J.
Eat’n Park Hospitality Group, Homestead, Pa.
FishBones, Lake Mary, Fla.
Goodwill Great Lakes at the Naval Station
Great Lakes, Great Lakes, Ill.
The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa,
Asheville, N.C.
Hotel du Pont, Wilmington, Del.
The Hotel Hershey, Hershey, Pa.
Iridescence, MotorCity Casino Hotel, Detroit
JaCiva’s Chocolates, Portland, Ore.
La Tavola, Sayville, N. Y.
Lilly’s Bistro, Louisville, Ky.
Magnolias, Charleston, S.C.
Pacific Asian Bistro, St. Augustine, Fla.
The Palmer House® Hilton, Chicago
Pier 37 Bar & Grill, Chicago
Premier Food Services, San Diego
Red Rocks Country Club, Morrison, Colo.
Savannah Red, Charlotte Marriott City Center,
Charlotte, N.C.
United States Olympic Committee Colorado
Springs Olympic Training Center Food &
Nutrition Services, Colorado Springs, Colo.
Chef & Child Foundation awards were
as follows: True Spirit—Dan Thomas,
catering supervisor, JCPS Nutrition
Service Center, Louisville, Ky., a member
davesmithphotographer.com
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
ACF’s Board of Directors, left to right: R. Douglas
Martinides, at large; Catherine Mullarkey, Esq., at
large; Jeff Bacon, CEC, CCA, AAC, vice president,
Southeast Region; James Taylor, CEC, AAC, MBA,
treasurer; Stafford DeCambra, CEC, CCE, CCA, AAC,
chair, American Academy of Chefs; Michael Ty, CEC,
AAC, president; David Goodwin, CEC, CCA, AAC, vice
president, Western Region; Kyle Richardson, CEC,
CCE, CHE, AAC, vice president, Central Region; John
Kinsella, CMC, CCE, WGMC, AAC, immediate past
president; Thomas Macrina, CEC, CCA, HGT, AAC,
secretary; and William Tillinghast, CEC, AAC, MBA,
vice president, Northeast Region.
www.acfchefs.org
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