Each of the 10 participating teams was tasked with preparing a three-course menu and buffet platter by utilizing ingredients in a “market basket” provided to each team. The teams had an hour and a half to develop the menu and then several hours to prepare and serve the dishes. A panel of professional chefs judged the teams on originality, taste, and presentation, awarding and deducting points for timing, teamwork, utilization of food, skills, sanitation, and overall preparation. Multiple medals of bronze, silver, and gold were awarded based on points earned.
The team of three Skidmore chefs — Production Manager Tim Thompson, Senior Cook Paul Karlson, and Short Order Cook Allen Lapelle — joined by Sommarah Whitbeck, embraced the opportunity for professional development and earned a silver medal for the success of their efforts in the competition.
Additional WSWHE BOCES high school students from the culinary arts and hospitality program worked side by side with Skidmore Catering as wait staff during a five-course luncheon for competitors and judges that preceded the competition on Thursday, Jan. 9 — a further example of the College's long standing partnership with the WSWHE BOCES culinary arts program, which provides interested students opportunities to explore the field of culinary arts.
"We are grateful to Skidmore for including WSWHE BOCES CTE students in the ACF Culinary Competition. Each year our students learn so much through this collaboration. They gain valuable experience as servers and are able to observe how the professional chefs compete under pressure,” said Chef Celeste David, culinary arts instructor in the WSWHE BOCES Career and Technical Education Program.
“This year is really special for us because Sommarah was able to compete on the Skidmore team for the first time (normally only adults compete.) Sommarah placed third in the culinary arts competition at the 2024 New York State SkillsUSA competition and now competing on the Skidmore team will also give her a leg up at SkillsUSA 2025 events. I want to give the administration at Saratoga Spring High School a big shoutout for supporting Sommarah on this journey,” continued Chef David.
“The overall goal of this competition is to improve competitors’ personal culinary skills. In the end, you end up with chefs who are stronger, more creative, and more skilled, which only strengthens Skidmore’s culinary offerings,” said Mark Miller, director of Dining Services at Skidmore..
Other competing institutions included The University of Massachusetts and The Professional Chefs of New Hampshire, which both earned gold medals; Princeton University, The University of Buffalo, and the Worlds Master Chef Society from Texas, earning silver medals; and Cornell University, The College of the Holy Cross, Middlebury College, and St. Lawrence University, all awarded bronze.