Two members of Faculty Student Association Dining Services at the 海角社区 combined with food service representatives from other universities to win a bronze medal in American Culinary Federation-sanctioned team competition at the 2014 Tastes of the World Chef Culinary Conference, held June 15-20 at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
Jason Domenico, Dining Services supervisor, and Dean Messina, assistant director of Dining Services, teamed up with Vern Impey, of SUNY Potsdam, and Matt Conley, Salisbury University, to earn 30.475 points 鈥 just 1.525 points shy of a silver medal.
鈥淔ood Matters: Embracing Health, Sustainability and Education for the Future鈥 was the theme of this year鈥檚 conference. Following general sessions that began each day, attendees listened to industry presentations, observed demonstrations by leading chefs such as John Ash, Mark Miller and Mia Pham, and engaged in hands-on workshop demonstrations with presentation chefs from Johnson & Wales University and the Culinary Institute of America.
Best-selling author and journalist Michael Pollan, who wrote, 鈥淭he Omnivore鈥檚 Dilemma鈥 and 鈥淚n Defense of Food: An Eater鈥檚 Manifesto,鈥 delivered the keynote address.
Domenico and Messina plan to implement some of the new recipes and ideas they learned into FSA Dining Service areas and also work on the long-term goal of becoming more sustainable and increasing the use of local products. The annual conference serves as a premier gathering for high-volume food service operators and campus chefs.
