News & Events
Three City Tech Student Chefs Awarded 'Brooklyn Eats' Scholarships
Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce President Ken Adams (at podium) and City Tech President Fred W. Beaufait (third from right) with "Brooklyn Eats" scholarship recipients (from left) Sarah Fagan, Fermin Martinez and Donna Crayne.
They were serving up scholarships in addition to unlimited tastings of
the signature dishes of 52 of Brooklyn's best restaurants and generous
samplings of borough-brewed libations and other popular locally produced
food products at the "Brooklyn Eats" foodfest held at the New
York Marriott Brooklyn on October 21. The celebrated annual event is sponsored
by the Brooklyn Alliance, a non-profit, economic development affiliate
of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, and attracts a food-loving crowd
from throughout New York City.
The three students -- Donna Crayne, Sarah Fagan and Fermin Martinez --
are all hospitality management seniors and residents of Brooklyn. Each
was presented with a $1,000 scholarship by Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce
President Ken Adams to help cover tuition and other educational expenses.
The three students were also the subject of a feature story in the Sunday,
October 20 Brooklyn and national editions of the Daily News, and the CBS
and Fox networks profiled the trio on their local news shows.
Assembly Member Joan Millman, City Council Members Lewis Fiddler and David Yassky, Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce Chairman and City Tech Foundation board member Alan Fishman and other elected officials and community leaders, City Tech Department of Hospitality Management Chair Frank Betancourt and department professor Julia Jordan joined Chamber President Ken Adams and the College's President Fred Beaufait in presenting the students their scholarship checks.
Committed to the preparation of fine food and not the sort to take the money and run, the three staffed their own "Brooklyn Eats" dessert station, serving New York "foodies" their own especially-made-for-the-occasion-creation, "Chocolate Tart, City Tech Style." The recipe was inspired by a pastry Fagan prepared for the 2002 U.S. Pastry Competition, in which she was a finalist. Crayne is also partial to pastries and cakes, while Martinez is more inclined to the culinary arts.
The first "Brooklyn Eats" was held in 1997 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music to help celebrate publication of a dining guide to the borough's restaurants of the same name. Over the years, City Tech hospitality management students have worked alongside participating Brooklyn chefs, brewers and food purveyors to help fashion this highly successful tasting testimonial to the fact that you don't have to venture out of the borough to have a great meal.
Photo by Stephen Soiffer
