The Department of Dining Services will hold its 20^th annual Culinary Olympics on Tuesday, January 14, 2020. The event will take place at the South Campus /Rome Ballroom located on the University of Connecticut, Storrs campus.

Feel free to attend all or part of this event and watch the Dining Services chefs exhibit their culinary skills! Free and open to the public.

The first event is the “Recipe Contest” that is scheduled to begin at approximately 8:30am on Tuesday. Recipes must be prepared on site for 12 portions, and must fall into one of the following categories:  Appetizer/Entrée/Dessert. Recipes will then be judged on the following criteria:  Clarity of Recipe/ Creativity of Dish/Cooking Techniques/Use of Ingredients/Taste and Texture.

9:30am-10:30pm – Chef Demo with Neil Doherty CEC, Corporate Executive Chef, Sysco Foods – Vegetarian Barbacoa Quesadilla & Plant Base Bibimbap

10:30am-12:15pm –  Recipe Contest Judging 

• Judge: Chef Will Deason, Willimantic Brewing Company/Main Street Café, Willimantic, CT.
• Judge: Chef Carl Stafford, Professor of Hospitality Management, Manchester Community College
• Judge: Ruth Hartunian-Alumbaugh, Chair Willimantic Chocolate Festival, and Food writer, Willimantic Chronicle
• Judge: Chef Gary Moquin, Culinary Arts Instructor, Windham Technical High School, Willimantic, CT

10:30am-1:30pm – UConn Bakery Demos and Displays – Stop by and learn the art of decorating from our professional pastry chefs and bakers. They will also have 20 cakes on display to commemorate the 20^th year!

12:30pm – 4:45pm – Boiling Point –  This is our version of the “Iron Chef” competition that will involve teams of three chefs representing the different dining facilities within the department. Each team will be presented with a mystery box of ingredients, and using miscellaneous items from our pantry, prepare three different Tapas (small food or appetizer) on each plate. Teams will have 75 minutes to prepare their dishes for four judges.

• Judge: Chef Christopher Prosperi, Chef-Owner, Metro Bis Restaurant.
• Judge: Rand Richards Cooper, Novelist, Longtime Food and Travel writer and Food Critic with The New York Times.
• Judge: Kristen Fritz, Public Relations, Strategic Marketing, Community Development, Social Networking www.eatin-ct.com/
• Judge: Jeannette Punsoni Dardenne, Public Relations, Strategic Marketing, Community Development, Social Networking www.eatin-ct.com/

Award presentation immediately following Boiling Point.

For more information contact: Robert Landolphi, Assistant Director Culinary Development-Robert.landolphi@uconn.edu

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