AMERICAN CULINARY FEDERATION PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release:

Media Contacts:

March 19, 2015

Jessica Ward: (904) 484-0213, [email protected] Jennifer Manley: (904) 484-0247, [email protected]

Students from Metropolitan Community College, Omaha, Nebraska, Named 2015 ACF Central Region Student Team Champions St. Augustine, Fla., March 19, 2015—The ACF Professional Chefs and Culinarians of the Heartland student team from The Institute for the Culinary Arts at Metropolitan Community College (MCC), Omaha, Nebraska, won the American Culinary Federation (ACF) Central Region Student Team Championship. The competition was held at Pulaski Technical College, North Little Rock, Arkansas, March 6-7. The five student team members competed against nine other regional student teams for the award. The team will now compete for the national title against their regional counterparts at Cook. Craft. Create. ACF National Convention & Show, Orlando, Florida, July 30-Aug. 3. The ACF Student Team Championship, sponsored by Vitamix® Corporation, is designed to raise the standards of culinary excellence and professionalism among students, promote camaraderie and educational opportunities, and act as a staging area for research and development of culinary concepts. The regional competition consists of a skills salon and a cooking phase, where students are required to prepare four portions of four courses, one of which is an assigned classical dish from Escoffier: The Complete Guide to the Art of Modern Cookery, for judges in 1 hour 35 minutes. “Little Rock was an awesome experience,” said Brian O’Malley, coach/chef instructor at MCC. “We were blown away by the support and encouragement that we have received from the other teams, coaches and judges, as well as our own school, chapter and community. It has been a great honor to share the kitchen with our competitors. We are very excited for what lies ahead.” Their winning menu was a fish starter of sauteed trout and toasted sourdough with a trout and scallop mousseline; a salad of braised radicchio and salted beef; the required entrée of poulet sauté a la Bourguignonne, and barre de couche with almond granola, cherry ganache and almond Bavarian cream for dessert. In addition, the American Academy of Chefs (AAC), ACF’s honor society, gave $1,000 to the team to assist with travel expenses to the national competition. The 2015 ACF Central Region Culinary Salon was part of ACF’s Signature Series, which provides professional development for chefs and culinary students through educational programs, conferences and competitions. Learn more at www.acfchefs.org/culinarysalons, or at Facebook.com/ACFChefs or on Twitter @ACFChefs. About the American Culinary Federation The American Culinary Federation, Inc. (ACF), established in 1929, is the standard of excellence for chefs in North America. With more than 17,500 members spanning nearly 200 chapters nationwide, ACF is the leading culinary association offering educational resources, training, apprenticeship and programmatic accreditation. -MORE-

In addition, ACF operates the most comprehensive certification program for chefs in the United States, with the Certified Executive Chef®, Certified Sous Chef®, Certified Executive Pastry Chef® and Certified Culinary Educator® designations accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies. 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. Find ACF on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ACFChefs and on Twitter @ACFChefs.

### Editor’s note: High-resolution photos and interviews are available on request. Photo caption: Team Nebraska (left to right): Daisy Fuentes, Sarah Farmer, Miseon Lee, Kyle Ray, Patrick Ratigan and team coach Brian O’Malley from Metropolitan Community College’s Institute for the Culinary Arts, Omaha, Nebraska, received the 2015 ACF Central Region Student Team Championship after competing against nine other teams at the 2015 ACF Central Region Salon held in Little Rock, Arkansas, March 6-7.