Award Winners Announced At 2010 Acf Central Regional Conference

The American Culinary Federation (ACF), Inc., the largest association of professional culinarians in North America, held its 2010 ACF Central Regional Conference at the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown, Indianapolis, March 26-28.

At the conference, the American Academy of Chefs (AAC), ACF's honor society, gave a $1,000 grant to the Central Region Student Team Regional Champions, ACF Louis Joliet Chapter, to assist the team with expenses to travel to the national competition in August.

ACF honored members and chapters at the conference. The 2010 ACF Central Regional Conference award recipients listed below will compete for national titles against their winning regional counterparts at the 2010 ACF National Convention in Anaheim, Calif., Aug. 2-5.

Chef of the Year, sponsored by Unilever Foodsolutions
James "Kevin" Storm, CEC, CCA, AAC, executive chef, Bellerive Country Club, St. Louis; Chefs de Cuisine Association of St. Louis Inc.

Pastry Chef of the Year, sponsored by Splenda�
Nguyet Nguyen, assistant pastry chef, The Westin Crown Center Hotel, Kansas City, Mo.; ACF Greater Kansas City Chefs Association.

Chef Educator of the Year
Timothy Meyers, CCC, CCE, chef-instructor, College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, Ill.; ACF Windy City Professional Culinarians Inc.

Hermann G. Rusch Chef's Achievement Award
Gregory Wozniak, CEC, AAC, retired, Germantown, Wis.; ACF Chefs of Milwaukee Inc.

Chef Professionalism Award, sponsored by Minor's�
John Reed, CEC, CCA, owner, Customized Culinary Solutions, Skokie, Ill.; ACF Windy City Professional Culinarians Inc.

Student Chef of the Year, sponsored by Custom Culinary, Inc.
Brett Jacobs, apprentice, Elcona Country Club, Bristol, Ind.; ACF South Bend Chefs and Cooks Association

Baron H. Galand Culinary Knowledge Bowl, sponsored by American Technical Publishers
Kendall College, Chicago: Allison Chikos, Erika Giffin, Sarah Roberts, Jacqueline Wallner and Edward Whitney. The team is coached by Dina Altieri, CEC, CCE.

Student Team Regional Championship, sponsored by R.L. Schreiber, Inc.
ACF Louis Joliet Chapter, students from Joliet Junior College, Joliet, Ill.: James Bingham, Matthew Cappellini, CC, Lindsey Cizewski, Molly Meehan and Lauren Mulvey. The team is coached by The team is coached by Timothy Bucci, CEC, CCE, CHE, and Kyle Richardson, CEC, CCE, AAC.

Make-It-Mini Dessert Trio, sponsored by MARS Foodservice
Jennifer Kelm, apprentice, Lake Quivira Country Club, Shawnee Mission, Kan.; ACF Greater Kansas City Chefs Association

One-Pot Win A Lot, sponsored by Riviana
Robert Stricklin, CEC, AAC, executive chef, College of the Ozarks, Point Lookout, Mo.; ACF Springfield/Branson Chefs Association

The 2010 ACF Central Regional Conference award recipients listed below were recognized for their outstanding contributions and goodwill.

Central Region Rene Roncari Senior Chef Humanitarian Award
Bernard Urban, CEC, AAC, chef-ambassador at Ben E. Keith Co., Conroe, Texas; Texas Chefs Association

Chapter of the Year
ACF Greater Kansas City Chefs Association, Kansas City, Mo.

Chapter Achievement Award
ACF Chicago Chefs of Cuisine Inc., Chicago
ACF Greater Kansas City Chefs Association
ACF Louis Joliet Chapter, Joliet, Ill.
ACF Minneapolis Chefs Chapter, Minneapolis
ACF of Iowa, Des Moines, Iowa
ACF South Bend Chefs and Cooks Association, South Bend, Ind.

Cutting Edge Award
Kelly Cook, CEC, AAC, director, Texas Chefs Association, Dallas chapter, Hurst, Texas; Texas Chefs Association

Luis Fernando Mojica, student, Elgin Community College, Elgin, Ill.; ACF Windy City Professional Culinarians Inc.

Rajeev Patgaonkar, CEC, AAC, executive sous chef, Kellogg Hotel & Conference Center, East Lansing, Mic