National Culinary Review

EVENTS SERIES 2012 regional conferences
CENTRAL REGIONAL CONFERENCE
April 14-16 | Detroit

Icebreaker at the Ballpark
Friday, April 13, 7 p.m.
Step up to the plate and join your hosts from
MotorCity Casino Hotel as baseball’s Detroit
Tigers opens its home, Comerica Park, to ACF
conference attendees. Enjoy a taste of Motown
with food stations prepared by several of the
city’s best restaurants, and take a tour of the
park, including the players’ locker room. Watch
the Tigers versus the White Sox live on the big
screen as the teams go head to head in Chicago
in an ACF Central Region matchup. Reception
tickets are included with a full registration.
A la carte options are available online.
Transportation provided.

Celina Tio: General Session Featured Presenter

Saturday, April 14, 8:30 a.m.

ACF is pleased to welcome award-winning celebrity chef Celina Tio to the General Session stage. From The Ritz-Carlton, Philadelphia, to acclaimed restaurants in Orlando’s Walt Disney

World to her current home in Kansas City, Mo.,

Tio has made her mark on the culinary world.

At The American Restaurant, Kansas City, she garnered both local and national accolades, including 2005 Chef of the Year from Chef magazine and the James Beard Foundation’s

“feel good food” for a diverse clientele that appreciates distinctive seasonal dishes in a casual atmosphere. Always on the lookout for new adventures and opportunities, Tio has made a successful leap to television, competing strongly on popular cooking shows such as Food Network’s “The Next Iron Chef” and Bravo’s “Top Chef Masters.”

2007 Best Chef: Midwest.

Tio now channels all that experience into her first proprietary restaurant, Julian, which has become a Kansas City neighborhood mainstay. There, she creates the chef-driven twists on American comfort food she calls