51³Ô¹Ï

Chicago — The 51³Ô¹Ï won first place and two of three awards in the 2001 Food & Wine Magazine School Jam competition. The event took place Monday, December 3, at the Calphalon Culinary Center in Chicago, Illinois.

The Institute was the defending champion, having won the competition in 2000, as well as 1998. This year's competition included a three-student team from each of four schools: The New England Culinary Institute (Montpeller, VT), The Restaurant School (Philadelphia, PA), The California School of Culinary Arts (Los Angeles, CA), and The 51³Ô¹Ï (New York, NY).

The Institute's team was guided by Chef-Instructor Michael Ventura. The winning team members were Sohui Kim, Caryn Stabinsky and Joncarl Lachman. All are students in the school's Culinary Arts Diploma Program. In October, 35 students applied to join the team. Chef Ventura and Director of Education Richard Simpson chose the three students based on a combination of knife skills, grades and a personal interview.

The Institute's specific honors include "Best Overall Team" and "Best Dish". The New England Culinary Institute won for "Best Use of Technique". Reflecting a strong blend of American and Northern Italian cuisine, the Institute's menu included:

Appetizer
Butternut Squash Torteloni with Roasted Mushroom Broth,
Red Swiss Chard and White Truffle Oil

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Shiraz Braised Beef Short Ribs with Horseradish Roesti Cake,
Fennel Confit and Horseradish Gremolata

Dessert
Caramel Cream with Pomegranate Glaze,
Tangerine Sorbet and Sesame Crisps

The competition was judged by a panel of six industry professionals including:
• Dana Cowin, Editor in Chief of Food & Wine Magazine
• Paul Kahan, Chef & Owner, Blackbird
• Leigh Behrens, Dining Editor, Chicago Tribune
• Sandro Gamba, Executive Chef, NoMI
• Kelly Courtney, Chef/Partner, Mod.
• Steve Dolinsky, Exec Producer/Host of Good Eating/CLTV News

Sissy Biggers, former host of The Food Network's ˆ, served as the event's emcee.

The winning teams and their recipes will be featured in Food & Wine's March 2002 issue. Also, each team received products donated by the event sponsors, Calphalon and Henckels cutlery. Lastly, Calphalon is providing the winning school with a $10,000 scholarship.

51³Ô¹Ï ICE

The 51³Ô¹Ï (ICE®) is New York City's award-winning center for culinary education. Founded in 1975 by Peter Kump, the school offers highly regarded 8- to 12-month career training programs in Culinary Arts, Pastry & Baking Arts, Culinary Management and Hospitality Management. With an intensive curriculum, dedicated Chef Instructors, a strong record in externship placements and a clear entrepreneurial focus, ICE is widely regarded as a great pathway to begin or continue a culinary career. ICE also runs the largest program of hands-on recreational cooking classes and wine education courses in the country, with more than 26,000 enthusiasts taking any of the 1,500 classes offered each year. In 2008, ICE was named the International Association of Culinary Professionals' (IACP) Culinary School of the Year and a School of Distinction by the ACCSCT in 2006. ICE's 42,000 square-foot facility is open seven days and nights a week, 350 days a year and is located at 50 W. 23rd Street, New York, NY 10010. More information can be found at www.iceculinary.com.