City resident Geoffrey Lanez recently won the title 2014 American Culinary Federation (ACF) Northeast Region Student Chef of the Year.
The ACF Student Chef of the Year Award, sponsored by Custom Culinary, Inc., recognizes an up-and-coming student who possesses a high degree of professionalism, culinary skill and passion for the culinary arts.
”Receiving this award is a humbling moment in my life as it has been a dream of mine since I began competing four years ago,” said Chef Lanez. “I would like to thank Johnson & Wales University, ACF Rhode Island Chapter, my mentor George O’Palenick, CEC, CCE, ACC, my coaches, Johnson & Wales’ student competition team, my apprentices, Joseph Leonardi, CEC, executive chef at the Somerset Club, my girlfriend, and my friends and family, for the support and advice they have given me throughout this journey. I look forward to competing against my regional counterparts at the 2014 ACF National Convention in Kansas City, Mo., and I wish them the best of luck.”
At the regional competition, Chef Lanez competed against three other chefs to prepare two portions of a main dish that incorporated a whole bone-in chicken for a panel of judges in 1 hour, 40 minutes. He will now advance to the national competition in Kansas City, Mo., in July, where he will vie against his regional counterparts for the national title and $1,000.
Chef Lanez is pursuing a master’s degree in business administration at Johnson & Wales University. Last year, Lanez was captain of his school’s competition team, which received a silver medal at the 2013 ACF National Student Team Championship. In 2013, he was awarded Student Chef of the Year by ACF Rhode Island Chapter. The year before, Lanez was chosen as the apprentice for ACF Culinary Team USA at the 2012 Internationale Kochkunst Ausstellung, commonly referred to as the “culinary Olympics,” in Erfurt, Germany. Chef Lanez is currently a part-time cook at Somerset Club, Boston, and hopes to become a certified master chef, compete at the “culinary Olympics” and earn the title of U.S.A.’s Chef of the Year.
Approximately 500 chefs, students and foodservice professionals attended ACF’s Northeast Regional Conference, hosted by ACF Rhode Island Chapter. During the conference, attendees were able to advance their professional development through business seminars, cooking demonstrations focused on how to incorporate green and sustainable cooking concepts into restaurant kitchens, culinary competitions and awards. Learn more about the conference at www.acfchefs.org/Northeast, or at Facebook.com/ACFChefs or on Twitter @ACFChefs.