a new Standard
Kendall college makes history with
its first Baron h. galand culinary
Knowledge Bowl championship and
takes a moment to savor the high.
Exciting, nerve-racking, tense, hilarious,
incredible, educational, humbling,
satisfying, emotional, nail-biting and
intense are just some of the words team
captain Sarah Roberts uses to describe
the experience of taking home Kendall
College’s first national Baron H. Galand
Culinary Knowledge Bowl Championship.
The competition, sponsored by American
Technical Publishers, took place at the
2010 American Culinary Federation
(ACF) National Convention in Anaheim,
Calif., in August.
The team of five — Allison Chikos, Erika
Giffin, Roberts, Jacqueline Wallner and
Edward Whitney — led by Dina Altieri,
CEC, CCE, began its journey in October
2009 and captured the Central Region
award in March. Since then, the studying
hasn’t stopped. Even on the way to
Anaheim, students’ textbooks were open,
from the moment they arrived at the O’Hare
International Airport until the competition.
great expectationS
Each team member has a specialty. Roberts,
who graduated in June with a bachelor’s in
culinary arts, focused on learning all things
Escoffier. Wallner, a baking and pastry
student focused on sanitation. Chikos, a
baking and pastry student who came to
Kendall a few credits shy of a degree in
nutrition, stuck to that subject. Whitney, a
first-semester student at Kendall when the
team was formed, focused on culinary math.
Finally, Giffin, the team’s alternate, took on
all subjects.
“I’ve coached a lot of teams before, and I
knew from the start that they were the most
prepared team that I have ever seen,” says
Altieri. “The team had the support of the
entire school and Central Region behind it.”
Not only did the school support the team
financially, chef-instructors also participated
in scrimmages against the team to help
sharpen their knowledge.
“Competing against past instructors was
incredibly intimidating,” says Roberts. “I
wish I could say that we conquered every
opponent we scrimmaged against, but the
truth is we were defeated on more than
one occasion. It was those losses that
pushed us to come back even stronger.”
In addition to Kendall, the team had family,
friends and the entire region rooting for
them. Roberts says supporters didn’t hope
the team was going to win, they knew it was
going to win.
“That’s a lot of pressure, which was only
increased by our own expectations of
winning,” says Roberts. “We had to keep
pushing ourselves harder and harder.”
game time
On competition day, the team sat anxiously
in the greenroom studying until it was time
to play during the second game. The entire
team was nervous, but once they saw the
category names — from “Digestion” to “Hors
d’oeuvres” — they became more comfortable.
“I don’t think any of us were totally
confident until we calculated the scores
midway through the championship round
and found that we would win no matter
what,” says Roberts. “And even then, my
hands were still shaking.”
taKeawaYS
As sweet as victory is, the competition
journey also changes you. Roberts originally
joined the team as a way to remember
everything she learned the past three years
at Kendall, but she says working with the
team helped her become a better person.
“Not only did I increase my culinary
knowledge tenfold over the months of
preparation, but I also gained a better
understanding of myself and how hard
I was willing to push to achieve a goal,”
Roberts says.
Wallner says she walks away with
something greater than Escoffier and
time-and-temperature-control safety,
“I learned what it’s like to perform in a
cohesive, well-oiled team that’s hungry for
knowledge and a win,” she says.
“It’s hard to describe the feeling,” says
Roberts. “Just to say ‘satisfying’ doesn’t
quite sum it up.”
Florida Students Earn Silver
Kendall College wasn’t the only team that
took home a medal. The team from Lincoln
Culinary Institute, West Palm Beach, Fla.,
earned a silver medal. Team members,
all members of ACF Palm Beach County
Chefs Association, were: Hitesh Arora, CC,
CPC; Andrew Croney, CPC; Glendon David;
Francois Leonce; and Jami Yaccarino. The
team was coached by Steve Sitnick.
