Countdown to the National Championship
February 10, 2007
A-B Tech’s culinary team wins first place at the N.C. State Student Hot Food Competition at the Art Institute of Charlotte, earning a trip to Southeast Regional competition in Nashville, TN, in the spring. A team from A-B Tech has won the state title for more than a decade.
May 1, 2007
The team takes first place and a gold medal at regionals in Nashville. Medals are presented based on the number of points a team scores, and A-B Tech’s gold is the only one awarded by the American Culinary Federation during regional competitions. The win advances the team to the “final four” to compete against the Culinary Studies Institute at Oakland Community College in Farmington Hills, MI, the State University of New York at Delhi, and Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, CA at the ACF National Convention July 23 in Orlando, FL.
June 25, 2007
Team members gather in the kitchen of the Magnolia Building on A-B Tech’s Asheville campus for one of their nearly three dozen practice sessions. Also on hand are diners who purchased tickets as a fund-raiser to help pay for the team’s trip to Orlando.
As Coach Bronwen McCormick watches, she talks about preparations for the trip, including the requirement that teams take all their food and tools. “It’s like moving a house,” says McCormick, who, in addition to serving as an instructor in the college’s culinary program, gained experience as a member of a competition team when she was a student at A-B Tech in 2004. “We have many checklists. … A day or two before we pack, we ‘GI’ (the tools), which means we clean them. It can take six or seven hours to get our equipment together. We haven’t been to a competition where something hasn’t been forgotten. Our goal this time is not to forget anything.” McCormick pauses, then adds: “But it’s not like a competition if you don’t. It’s like good luck almost.”
July 16, 2007
The team holds its final practice, one week before the competition. ACF rules allow competitors three hours and 20 minutes to prep and cook four dishes followed by a 40-minute window to serve them. As soon as the window opens, the team plans to present the appetizer. The salad comes out 10 minutes later, the entrée,10 minutes after that, and the dessert, right before the window closes.
July 20, 2007
The team leaves Asheville at 8 a.m., bound for Orlando aboard a chartered bus. Eleven hours later, it arrives at its destination, the Marriott World Center Resort, site of the 2007 ACF National Convention.
July 22, 2007
The night before the event, team members take their minds off the competition by attending the Certified Master Chefs Dinner, prepared by nine of the top chefs in the world working alongside junior ACF members. On the menu are samples of such exotic dishes as braised pork belly mole with adobo pork tenderloin, Bahamian grouper and lobster terrine, and prosciutto-wrapped duck breast roulade with creamed corn and fig vincotto.
About 9 p.m., sated, the team heads to Chef Charles deVries’ room to peel vegetables, the only prep work that can be done before the competition. McCormick takes the sewing kit she brought, snips the pocket off the sleeve of her own chef coat, and stitches it to the sleeve of team member Michelle Bailey’s, which is missing its pocket. Tomorrow, Bailey will need the pocket to hold pens, markers and a cooking thermometer while she competes.
July 23, 2007
8 a.m. – Outfitted in chef coats, black pants, black shoes, aprons, kerchiefs and tall chef hats known as toques, the team begins setting up their kitchen. By 8:25 a.m., with five minutes remaining, members have finished the kitchen setup and are standing at their stations.
8:30 a.m. – A judge tells the team to begin. Unflappable until this moment, McCormick says: “I’m nervous now.”
8:37 a.m. – Jason Huang pauses long enough to sneak a wave to his parents, who have just arrived on the floor of the huge trade show, where the competition is being held.
8:45 a.m. – McCormick and fellow coach John Hofland sit on the front row, watching for nuances from the judges. During the event, coaches are prohibited from signaling or speaking to their teams. “We can’t wink, blink, or nod,” Coach Charles deVries says.
8:55 a.m. – Someone notices one of the team’s portable refrigerators is too cold, prompting a flurry of activity as one unit is switched for another. A judge tells team captain Huang: “If you guys come up short on time, you need to let me know because that took some time.” A self-confident Huang replies: “We should be fine.” Beside him, team members continue to work, seemingly oblivious to all the activity around them.
As Huang loads the new refrigerator with cartons, Hofland says: “Jason handled it well. The team knew what was going on, but they just have to keep their heads down and go.”
9:10 a.m. – Team members continue to work wordlessly, their nerves as steely as their knives. To the right is the team from the State University of New York at Delhi; to the left, Oakland Community College. In front are the display booths run by vendors trying to convince the more than 2,000 conference attendees of the virtues of products ranging from spatulas to spices.
9:29 a.m. – Matt Gruber and Michelle Bailey shave slivers off potatoes until they’re perfectly shaped seven-sided footballs called tournees. The potatoes will be served as part of the entrée – chicken breast and smoked beef tongue with duxelle stuffed mushroom and asparagus.
9:42 a.m. – Kevin Walker, a certified master chef featured during the previous evenings CMC Dinner, stops by to watch for a moment. Walker visited A-B Tech to offer pointers during one of the team’s practices. “They’re nice and tight,” he says now. “I’ll be back for plate-up.”
10:50 a.m. – A judge walks by the SUNY team’s kitchen and says, “What’s burning? I smell something burning,” He flashes a grin and gets a weak smile in return.
11:25 a.m. – With the teams’ staggered starting times, the first window to open is Michigan’s. A crowd of spectators gathers to watch the plate-ups.
11:46 a.m. – Coach Hofland glances at his watch … four minutes until A-B Tech’s window opens.
11:49 a.m. – A judge walks by and checks the clock.
11:50 a.m. – The window opens, and every second counts. Daniel Gruber’s appetizer – a pan-seared bass with sweet pea sauce and black-eyed pea terrine with corn relish – must be on the plate and ready to serve to the judges in 10 minutes. The pressure is nearly palpable.
11:54 a.m. – Servers begin taking appetizers to the judges.
Noon – The 24 plates of bass have all been served, and Chef Walker has returned to watch from the front row of spectators. He turns to McCormick and offers encouragement. “They all look good,” Walker says of the appetizers. “They’re all consistent.”
Among the other spectators is Chef Tim Thomas of the Ocean Forest Club in Georgia, who holds a string of competition medals himself. Thomas, a 1988 graduate of A-B Tech’s culinary program, was the chef in charge of meals for President George W. Bush during the G-8 Summit in 2004. Ron Byrd, sporting a Carolina Tar Heels shirt, also watches. Byrd drove the chartered bus that brought the team to Orlando. “He said he loved food, so we got him a ticket,” Coach deVries says.
12:23 p.m. – The 24 plates of entrees have been served, and a judge comes by to announce the team’s window closes in seven minutes. Members are putting the finishing touches on dessert, a vanilla cream on a lemon sugar cookie and fruit compote served with apricot sauce and spun caramel.
12:26 p.m. – The first plates of dessert are ready for servers to deliver to the judges. “Yes! They’re going to make it,” deVries exclaims. In the background, Huang tells his teammates: “Four minutes, guys.”
12:27 p.m. – The final desserts are plated, and the crowd of about 50 spectators breaks into applause.
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