salut!
Benton
Kinsella
Ray Benton, CCE, HAAC, and
Vince Blancato, members of ACF Tampa
Bay Culinary Association Inc., are volunteering
with the Chefs Move to Schools program in Pasco
County, Fla., including a recent workshop with
second-graders at Gulfside Elementary School,
Holiday, Fla. Students harvested produce from
raised garden beds at the school to understand
where their food comes from. Other Pasco County
elementary schools participating in the program
are Fox Hollow, Port Richey, Fla.; Hudson and
Northwest, Hudson, Fla.; and Veterans, Wesley
Chapel, Fla.
Mark DeNittis, program director at Cook
Street School of Culinary Arts, Denver, taught
butchery to veterans in an eight-day program at
the school in April through a program with the
Denver Office of Economic Development and
the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The
intensive, hands-on butchery and meat-focused
Blancato
Wysong
course, which will be offered twice a year, is
state-accredited. At the end of the course,
participants receive certificates of completion
and placement assistance from the Cook Street
School culinary team. DeNittis is a member of
ACF Colorado Chefs Association.
Jody Denton, executive research chef for
Frito Lay, Plano, Texas, and Nicolasa Murillo
received first place in the second annual
Professional Culinology® Competition at the
Research Chefs Association Annual Conference
and Culinology® Expo, March 6-9, in Charlotte,
N.C. Four teams competed for the $5,000 first
prize by creating North Carolina regional cuisine
concepts for both fine and casual dining. Denton
is a member of Texas Chefs Association.
Patricia “Patti” Kimball, owner of
Kimball Catering, Kailua Kona, Hawaii, was
named Chef of the Year and Member of the Year
DeNittis
Magoulas
by ACF Kona-Kohala Chefs Association at the
annual President’s Ball, Jan. 28, at Rays on the
Bay, Sheraton Kona, Kailua Kona. Kimball has
been co-chair of the chapter’s ACFEF Chef &
Child Foundation nutrition awareness benefit,
‘Q'uisine of Hearts, and chair of the 24th annual
Holiday Extravaganza scholarship benefit,
Christmas at the Fairmont Orchid—Dining with
the Chefs. She was also cited for her continuing
dedication to high school culinary activities.
Samuel “Sam” Varron was named the
chapter’s Student Chef of the Year.
John Kinsella, CMC, AAC,
WGMC, Ph.D., president of Smart Chefs
LLC, Cincinnati, and a member of ACF Greater
Cincinnati Chapter, and Robert Wysong,
CEC, executive chef at Colleton River
Plantation Club, Bluffton, S.C., and a member
of ACF Greater Charleston South Carolina
Chapter, are featured in the inaugural edition of
