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American Culinary Federation selects pastry chefs for ACF Culinary Team USA

Brian Amick
11.17.2017

Image courtesy of The American Culinary Federation
 
The American Culinary Federation has announced the eight chefs that will comprise its ACF Culinary Team USA, an elite group representing the United States in major international culinary competitions. Among those are two pastry chefs, joining the team that will continue to train over the next few years for a string of competitions that will culminate in the 2020 Internationale Kochkunst Aussetellung (IKA) in Stuttgart, Germany, also known as the “culinary Olympics.”

The team’s pastry chefs are:

  • Andrew Corrao, banquet/pastry chef at Bambara Restaurant in Salt Lake City, Utah.
  • Kelsee Newman, pastry arts instructor at Midwest Culinary Institute at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College in Cincinnati, Ohio.

“This impressive group of professionals has earned the opportunity to represent American chefs and cuisine on the global stage, and we are more than confident that they are up to the challenge,” says ACF National President Stafford T. DeCambra. “We look forward to following their progress as they train, and to cheering their successes in the coming years.”

The full team, which can be viewed here, was chosen after a multi-part application and competition process earlier this year. The chefs will work with ACF Culinary Team USA coaches and managers to prepare for their first competition, which takes place at the Culinary World Cup/EXPOGAST 2018 in Luxembourg.

“Not all chefs are great competitors, but the skills that lead to success in competition are valuable to all chefs,” says ACF Culinary Team USA Manager Reimund Pitz. “In assembling this Culinary Team USA, we looked for culinarians who demonstrated consummate skill and creativity, the ability to work as part of a team and a fierce dedication to the craft. As experienced competitors ourselves, the leadership team and I will endeavor to pass on our wisdom to these chefs, and to ensure that each of them has the resources they need to hone their abilities even further.”