National Culinary Review

ACF CULINARY TEAM USA

A Closer Look at ACF Culinary Youth Team USA

By Michelle Whitfield

Gold

Left to right, Brittney Garner Cummings, Alfonso Mendoza and Maddie Cutts at ACF Culinary Youth Team USA tryouts in August 2010, Anaheim, Calif.

Silver

Team USA at the Villeroy & Boch Culinary World Cup 2010 in Luxembourg. This remarkable journey gave them invaluable international experience of the highest level to share with the rest of the youth team.

Bronze

ACF Culinary Youth Team USA, under the direction of ACF Culinary Team USA manager Steve Jilleba, CMC, CCE, AAC, and youth team manager Alex Darvishi, CEC, AAC, has been busy training to represent the U.S. at the Internationale Kochkunst Ausstellung (IKA) in Erfurt, Germany, in 2012. The team’s members are Samantha Lyn Caves, Maddie Cutts, Edalyn Garcia (team captain), Reilly Meehan and Alfonso Mendoza. Randy Torres, CEC, is the coach, Brittney Garner Cummings provides team support, and new to the team is Giovanni Delrosario as fundraising coordinator.

The team spends a lot of time together, and this group of talented students has quickly become family. These 19- to 23-year-olds find ways to balance academics at Oregon Coast Culinary Institute, Coos, Bay, Ore., team training, jobs, families and personal lives. They are dedicated to cooking creatively, skillfully and competitively together every day.

Cobalt Copper

Moving forward, the youth team is preparing for its next competition, the Culinary Salon Riverside, Riverside, Calif., in September, where they will also hold a fundraising dinner. They are looking into the possibility of presenting a cold-food display during the trade show at the 2011 ACF National Convention in Dallas, July 24-25.

Team members have been busy perfecting
their culinary skills in rigorous monthly
practice sessions, as well as gaining
experience in various competitions. Most
recently, they competed individually in the
Las Vegas Culinary Challenge, March 1-2,
in Las Vegas, receiving a total of four gold
medals, three silver medals and one bronze
medal. In addition, Maddie Cutts and Reilly
Meehan assisted ACF Culinary National
Show your support for the youth team and
ACF Culinary Team USA with a donation.

For more information on ACF Culinary Youth Team USA, read “Like Family,” by Precious Vida Yamaguchi, Ph.D., in the spring 2011 issue of Sizzle at www.sizzle-digital.com/ sizzle/spring2011/#pg54.

JOIN THE JOURNEY

Make a $50 donation to ACF Culinary Team USA and become part of a 5x6-foot canvas of chef profiles and landmarks highlighting ACF’s 2011 event series. Jennifer Garant, famous for her Signature Chefs, will complete the painting during the 2011 ACF National Convention in Dallas, July 22-26. It will be auctioned off, and proceeds will support ACF Culinary Team USA. E-mail a high-resolution photo to academy@ acfchefs.net and donate online or send a check to ACF Culinary Team USA, 180 Center Place Way, St. Augustine, FL 32095.