News & Events
City Tech Sweeps Prizes at Prestigious Culinary Competition
“Timeless Kiss,” the Best in Show winner by Ashley Alioto, recalls the famous photo of the nurse and the sailor kissing in Times Square in celebration of the end of World War II.
The “Dream Team” of 1992 U.S. Olympic basketball players swept through the competition. Tiger Woods dominates golf like no player before him. Just like those champions, the team of student culinary all-stars from City Tech blew away all competitors at the culinary salon of the annual International Hotel, Motel and Restaurant Show, held recently at the Javits Center in Manhattan.
When the dust -- or maybe the confectioner’s sugar -- had settled, the City Tech team had taken the Marc Sarrazin cup for the best overall entry at the show. Two faculty members (Louise Hoffman and Jean Claude) and one alumnus (Randolph Hernandez) had each won gold medals. Two other recent alumni were honored, Ebow Dadzie with the Gold Medal of the Association of Chefs de Cuisine et de Patisserie du Quebec and Anthony Smith with the International Chefs Association Gold Medal.
The City Tech table of entries at the show was covered with blue ribbons for its several pieces. One student, Ashley Alioto, gained recognition for the “best piece in show” for her confectionery artistry in constructing “Timeless Kiss,” an abstract depiction of Times Square in 1945, an honor that includes a $1,000 award.
Culinary salons have been sponsored by the French Société Culinaire Philanthropique for 142 years and are a regular feature of the Jacob Javits Center show. Seeing City Tech atop the list of winners has become an increasingly regular aspect of the three-day event; its students have won the Sarrazin cup -- signifying best overall performance in the competition -- in three of the last four years.
City Tech students and faculty with the Sarrazin Cup, savoring their victory.
Victories of this sort do not come easily. Each fall, as the show approaches, one can find the student competitors, and the several faculty who mentor them, in City Tech’s culinary labs until late at night. Professor Louise Hoffman, who works most closely with the students creating pastry and confectionery entries, says of the process, “The Salon of Culinary Arts is a professional arena where our City Tech students can demonstrate their skills, probably the toughest ‘practical exam’ our students will ever take. They do magnificent work. I am amazed every year at the level of excellence that is created in my class. I am very proud of them.”
As the show approaches, the creative work of the culinary students is refined, until -- usually the night before the show -- students and faculty are able to step back and declare it ready. Ashley Alioto, who will receive her bachelor’s degree in January 2010, says of the creative process, “I think that Sugar Art has no limits and no boundaries. The only standards are to try to be as successful as the master confectioners I admire.” Alioto, a 20-year-old Brooklynite who came to City Tech after graduating from Saint Saviour High School, has been named to the Dean’s List every semester.
The Hospitality Management program at City Tech is best known for its culinary and pastry arts track, but it also trains students at both the associate and the baccalaureate levels in the other areas of hospitality, including hotel and resort management, travel and tourism, and food and beverage management. The program serves over 750 students, and its graduates can be found at the finest restaurants and hotels, and in management positions throughout New York and well beyond. In addition to classroom work, students have the opportunity to study in Paris through an exchange program with l’Université d’Evry, take part in an international work/study program or intern at Disney World resorts.
“Our students are a cross-section of New York today,” says Professor Elizabeth Schaible, chair of the department. “Many are new immigrants or the first generation born in the U.S. They work very hard, bringing a real dedication to what they are doing, and they achieve at a very high level. They leave with an education that serves them well, at least the equal of what they would get at a private program many times our cost.”
In addition to Professor Hoffman, City Tech faculty mentors this year included Susan Lifrieri-Lowry, Claire Stewart, John Akana, Thomas Harris and Jean Claude. Students who worked on the Garde Manger entries, under the supervision of Professor Harris, included Janet Ayinla, Cynthia Chico, Gabriella de la Vega, Nicole Gajadhar, Merrell Harvey, Henry Huynh, Guo Hao Pang, Gabriell Rios, Geralynn Scott, Mohini Singh and Cassaundra Wells. Students working with Professor Hoffman on the Pastry Arts entries were Ashley Alioto, Renata Calderon, Li Feng, Danilo Giraudo, Philip Madrazo, Amanda Stiles, Charisse Tompkins, Fernand Vixamar and Tomer Zilkha.
New York City College of Technology (City Tech) of The City University of New York is the largest public college of technology in New York State. It enrolls more than 14,000 students in 60 baccalaureate, associate and specialized certificate programs.
11.25.08
