Getting Our Just Desserts 2010 Helps Make Holidays Special

Learn how to make your holidays special from local women chefs at Getting Our Just Desserts 2010, a culinary event at The Art Institute of Phoenix, 2233 W. Dunlap Avenue, on Saturday, Nov. 20, from 3 to 6 p.m.

Barbara Fenzl, cookbook author and teacher at Les Gourmettes Cooking School in Phoenix, is the honorary chef for the event.  Women chefs from throughout Arizona will share their talents to benefit C-CAP, Careers through Culinary Arts Program, which supports high school culinary students.  Proceeds from this year’s event will fund scholarships for female high school students.

The event will offer sampling of the chefs’ treats and holiday tips as well as a chance to bid on gingerbread houses created by culinary students especially for this event.  There will be a fashion display and photo exhibit by Art Institute students along with demonstrations by the chefs.

Admission is $35 and includes samplings of both sweet and savory offerings. Tickets are available through www.blacktie-arizona.com/rsvp, event code: justdesserts10.

Participating chefs include:  MaryAnne Moody, Bueno Burger;  Country Velador, Cowboy Ciao;  Lisa Dahl, Dahl and Di Luca Ristorante Italiano; C-CAP alumnus Tricia Guerrero, East Valley Institute of Technology (EVIT);  Charleen Badman, FnB;  C-CAP alumnus Sacha Levine, FnB; Renae Hannum, Hilton Hotel/Mesa; Joan O’Connor, Honey Moon Sweets;  Julia Baker, Julia Baker Confections; Barbara Fenzl, Les Gourmettes Cooking School;  Tasha Slatton, The Phoenician; Francine Marz, The Art Institute of Phoenix;  Asta Pedersen, American Healthcare & Culinary consultants;  Julie Grandon, Torched Goodness;  C-CAP alumnus Therese Hills, Troon Country Club;  C-CAP alumnus Dezirea Elizondo, POSH Restaurant;  Victoria Babbitt, The Ritz Carlton;  Chelsie Higgins, Scottsdale Community College;  Sally McCarty, Crybaby Ranch;  Joanne Ayres, The Art Institute of Phoenix;  C-CAP alumnus Julie Fiedler, Iron Chef America competitor;  Tracy Fierros, Canyon Ranch; and Heidi Lee, Into the Soup.

Students from 55 Arizona culinary programs participate in annual competitions for honors and scholarships to further their culinary careers and to become successfully employed in the food service industry. In spring of 2010, Arizona C-CAP students were awarded scholarships totaling $544,824.

For more information about C-CAP in Arizona, visit www.ccapinc.org or contact Jill Smith at 623-606-6213.

Press release 9-1-10

Third Annual Heavy Medal Culinary Event Features Celebrity Judges and Chefs

Phoenix – Celebrity judges Bob Bondurant, Debbie Gaby and Coach Alvin Gentry will select a winner from two teams led by Valley chefs Francesco Roccato, InterContinental Montelucia Resort and Spa and Charles Kassels, El Chorro Lodge Restaurant, at the Third Annual Heavy Medal Culinary Competition Sunday, Sept. 19 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the Intercontinental Montelucia Resort and Spa, 4949 East Lincoln Drive in Paradise Valley.

Iron Chef America winner Beau MacMillan, executive chef at the Sanctuary Camelback Mountain Resort and Spa, will emcee the event, and three members of the audience will be selected to join celebrity judges in selecting the winning team. This annual competition benefits the Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP), which provides scholarships to high school culinary arts students throughout Arizona.

Tickets are $175 per person and include a four-course dinner with expertly matched wines as well as the opportunity to see the two well-known chefs in action. C-CAP students will assist in meal preparation and dinner service. Tickets are available through www.blacktie-arizona.com/rsvp, event code ccap2010

C-CAP is a nonprofit organization that provides teacher training and scholarships to promising culinary arts students in public schools in Arizona as well as six cities throughout the country. Students from 55 Arizona culinary programs participate in annual competitions for honors and scholarships to further their culinary careers and to become successfully employed in the food service industry. In spring of 2010, Arizona C-CAP students were awarded scholarships totaling $544,824.

Chef Roccato, who oversees the Prado Restaurant, POQ and banquet/wedding catered events at the InterContinental Montelucia Resort and Spa, grew up in Torino, Italy. He is an active member of the Slow Food movement and is dedicated to ensuring use of the freshest quality ingredients. He completed the program at the Culinary Institute of Canada and worked for Canadian Pacific Hotels before earning his master’s in Italian cuisine in Costigliole d’Asti, Italy. Prior to joining the InterContinental Montelucia Resort and Spa, he was at the InterContinental Hotel Valencia in Spain and the InterContinental Cleveland in Ohio.

As executive chef, Kassels continues the legacy and traditions of the 70-year-old El Chorro Lodge in Paradise Valley. He blends seasonal and regional organic ingredients with Southwest, Continental and Sonoran influences. Chef Kassels returned to his native Arizona after working at the Old House Restaurant at the El Dorado Resort in Santa Fe. He also has worked at the Westin Kierland Resort, the Boulders Resort, Continental Catering and at Barmouche, under the tutelage of Chef Mark Tarbell. He has served as chef at many high profile events including the FBR Open, the Winston Cup NASCAR Race in Phoenix and the Santa Fe Wine and Chile Festival. He trained at the Culinary Institute of Americas in New York

C-CAP operates programs in seven locations: New York; Los Angeles; Chicago; Philadelphia; Hampton Roads, Va; Prince George’s County, Maryland; and statewide in Arizona. The program provides training and curriculum enrichment programs including teacher training, scholarships, and cooking competitions, job shadows, job training, internships and career advising, college advising and College 101 Workshops, and product donations. For more information, visit ccapinc.org.

ARIZONA SENIORS RECEIVE OVER $544,000 IN CULINARY SCHOLARSHIPS

C-CAP awarded $544,824 in scholarships in Arizona in March 2010. Thirty students received scholarships ranging from $1,000 to over $80,000. Johnson and Wales University full-tuition bachelors degree scholarship went to Kelsey Hancock of Wickenburg. Chelsea Edwards received the International Culinary Schools at the Art Institutes national award of over $80,000. In addition, four students received scholarships totaling over $200,000 from the Art Institutes in Phoenix and Tucson. Phoenix Chefs, Barbara Fenzl and Mark Tarbell scholarships of $2,500 each were awarded to a Phoenix and Flagstaff student respectively.

Ruben Brito was awarded a full-tuition scholarship to the Classic Cooking Academy valued at $15,000. Two students received part-tuition scholarships of $14,000 to the Arizona Culinary Institute and one received a $10,000 scholarship to Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Institute in Scottsdale.

Other scholarships included the Barbara Colleary Scholarship awarded to Sam Clonts of Tucson and the Beau MacMillan Scholarship to Kordiante Hyler of Mesa. Luke Cornelius of Flagstaff received a ¾ tuition scholarship to the Art Institutes of Denver and the James Beard Foundation Scholarship. C-CAP awarded $28,000 in cash scholarships to thirteen students.

Arizona residents and visitors can look forward to a continuation of exciting culinary experiences in Arizona!

See our winning students in “Photos”