American Culinary Federation Members Receive Top Honors At Cordon D' Or - Gold Ribbon International Culinary Academy Awards Ceremony

Five American Culinary Federation (ACF) members from California, Florida, Illinois and Pennsylvania received International Culinary Academy Awards at the 2009-2010 Cordon D' Or - Gold Ribbon awards presentation, held at The Don CeSar, St. Petersburg, Fla., April 30.

In the Academy of Culinary Arts category, Thomas Macrina, CEC, CCA, HGT, AAC, of Plymouth Meeting, Pa., executive chef at Desmond Great Valley Hotel and Conference Center, Malvern, Pa., received the Culinarian of the Year award. Macrina is chair of the American Academy of Chefs, ACF's honor society, and is a member of ACF Philadelphia Chapter. Also in that category, Candy Wallace, founder/executive director of the American Personal & Private Chef Association, San Diego, a member of ACF National Chapter, received the Culinary Entrepreneur award.

Gui Alinat, CEC, of Clearwater, Fla., chef/owner of Elite Events Catering, Tampa, Fla., a member of ACF National Chapter, won the Culinary Reference award in the Cookbooks and Culinary Arts-Culinary Literature category for The Chef's R�pertoire (American Technical Publishers, 2010). He also won the Special Merit Award for Culinary Website/Blog for www.chefgui.com.

Also in the Cookbooks and Culinary Arts-Culinary Literature category, John Draz, CEC, CCE, of Chicago, and Christopher Koetke, CEC, CCE, of Oak Park, Ill., members of ACF Windy City Professional Culinarians Inc., won the Culinary Textbook award for The Culinary Professional (Goodheart-Willcox Publisher, 2010). Draz is executive research chef at Ed Miniat, Inc., South Holland, Ill., and Koetke is dean of The School of Culinary Arts, Kendall College, Chicago.

"Being recognized and awarded the Cordon D' Or - Gold Ribbon is an honor that validates the many years and long hours of work in the kitchen cooking to the best of my abilities each and every day," said Macrina, one of the ACF honorees. "It is humbling to be associated with a group as distinguished and successful as the past and current recipients of this award. I want to thank the American Culinary Federation for the excellent educational and professional-enhancement opportunities that it has have offered me through the years. These experiences contributed greatly to my continued growth and success as a cook and chef."

The Cordon D' Or - Gold Ribbon Awards program is part of Cordon d' Or - Gold Ribbon, Inc., located in St. Petersburg, Fla. The program was established in 1985 in Europe and has been in the U.S. since 1990, according to Noreen Kinney, president. For more information, and a complete list of the 2009-2010 award recipients, visit www.cordondorcuisine.com.

The American Culinary Federation, Inc., established in 1929, is the premier professional organization for culinarians in North America. With more than 20,000 members spanning 225 chapters nationwide, ACF is the culinary leader in offering educational resources, training, apprenticeship and programmatic accreditation. In addition, ACF operates the most comprehensive certification program for chefs in the United States. ACF is home to ACF Culinary Team USA, the official representative for the United States in major international culinary competitions, and to the Chef & Child Foundation, founded in 1989 to promote proper nutrition in children and to combat childhood obesity. For more information, visit www.acfchefs.org.