Culinary Competition Team from Monroe College's Culinary Institute of New York Wins 2022 ACF National Student Team Championship

Student Team Earns the Top Title for the First Time in Program History

BRONX, N.Y. (PRWEB) August 15, 2022

Monroe College, a national leader in educating urban and international students, very proudly announced today that students from its Culinary Institute of New York (CINY) earned the American Culinary Federation's (ACF) 2022 Student Team Championship title – an exciting first for the program.

The CINY team was one of eight teams from across the country invited to compete at ACF's national competition. This year was the first time that Monroe's students captured the national title, a remarkable and impressive accomplishment given that this was the first year that the five individual students ever competed at the collegiate level, much less together as teammates. The team was also crowned the ACF Northeast Regional Champion for the third straight year.

"Our students are incredibly proud and honored to have earned the judges' top marks and to have achieved this wonderful milestone in the program's history," said Dr. Frank C. Costantino, Dean of Monroe College's School of Hospitality Management and Culinary Institute of New York and head coach of the competition team. "They worked incredibly hard all season to come together as a unified team and find their shared culinary voice in the kitchen. We could not be more proud of them."

The members of Monroe's championship-winning team are: Kennedy Graves (team captain who came to Monroe as a C-CAP student from Bowie High School in Bowie, MD), Jeovanny Adames (Manhasset Senior High School in Great Neck, NY), Thomas Bradburn (Lindenhurst High School in Lindenhurst, NY), Frank Costantino Jr. (Warwick Valley High School in Warwick, NY) and Kaylynn Figueroa (St. Jean Baptiste High School in New York City).

Each team had to prepare a signature menu that incorporated specific elements announced in advance so that the teams could adequately plan and practice. The CINY team began putting its menu together in a bootcamp started in April, practicing again and again from then until competition day to perfect their dishes.

Team CINY's winning menu featured:

• Fish starter course: Poached fluke, saffron quenelles, smoked cream of mussels, poached baby fennel and fennel crispies, with a roasted red pepper purée
• Salad course: Summer garden salad with variations of melon: frisée, manukah honey dijon vinaigrette, cantaloupe gelée, homemade labneh cheese, pickled honeydew rind, cantaloupe and honeydew pearls, and roasted pistachios topped with a honeycomb tuile
• Main course: "Marengo" revisited: roasted roulade of chicken with wild mushrooms, white wine jus lié, tartelette of chicken, crayfish and quail egg, tomate farçie with zucchini "a scapece", wilted baby greens, and glazed carrots "vichy"
• Dessert course: A light, decadent dessert of peach, strawberry, and apricot with basil and pistachio

In addition to the national title, Team CINY also earned three "best in show" awards (fish course, salad course, and entree course).

The competition took place at the 2022 ACF National Convention held July 24-28 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The competition results were announced on the final evening at the popular gala dinner attended by all ACF conference participants.

Dean Costantino said: "The teams we competed with were truly incredible and we warmly congratulate them for their strong menus and impressive seasons. Each and every one of those talented chefs has a bright culinary future ahead of them."

Monroe also had two students compete this year at the individual level. Lukas DeJong earned a Silver Medal in the Student Chef of the Year competition and Tkaiya Dryden won the Northeast Region Student Pastry Chef of the year. This was the first year that ACF introduced a competition specifically for aspiring pastry chefs.

ABOUT THE CULINARY INSTUTUTE OF NEW YORK AT MONROE COLLEGE
The Culinary Institute of New York at Monroe College is an award-winning, nationally recognized culinary institute that provides students with a combination of theoretical education and hands-on experience in culinary arts, pastry arts, and hospitality management. With facilities designed to simulate the kitchens of restaurants, hotels, and large production operations, students receive personal instruction and mentorship from a faculty of ACF-certified chefs and experienced industry professionals who are committed to their success.

Since 2009, CINY has produced award-winning culinary teams, students, faculty and staff, as well as a critically acclaimed student-run restaurant, The Dining Lab, which was described as a "training ground for students" by The Wall Street Journal and "the little kitchen that could" by The New York Times. Monroe's culinary program has won more than 1,050 American Culinary Federation medals to date. More information, including admissions criteria, is available online.

ABOUT MONROE COLLEGE
Founded in 1933, Monroe College is a recognized leader in urban and international education. The College is proud of its innovative programs to increase college access, affordability, and completion outcomes, especially among first-generation students. The strength of its warm, supportive culture is reflected in the personal connections fostered among students, faculty, and staff.

Monroe educates close to 8,000 students each year, offering Certificate, Associate, Bachelor's, and Master's degree programs from campuses in the Bronx, New Rochelle, and St. Lucia. Students may also take courses online.

Programs are offered through seven academic schools, including the Schools of Allied Health Professions, Business and Accounting, Criminal and Social Justice, Education, Hospitality Management and the Culinary Institute of New York (CINY), Information Technology, and Nursing, as well as through King Graduate School. Liberal arts and continuing education programs are also available. For more information and admissions criteria, please visit http://www.monroecollege.edu.

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