Culinary Services chefs competed on Monday, Dec. 17 at McDonel Hall during an internal Culinary Challenge. Six team members vied for the opportunity to represent MSU at the National Association of College and University Food Services (NACUFS) Midwest Regional Conference. Competitors included:
- Dien Ly, executive chef for The Gallery at Snyder/Phillips
- Dustin Ignash, sous chef for Wilson Dining Hall
- Ryan Barlow, sous chef and operations coordinator for ON-THE-GO Food Truck and the corporate kitchen
- Kari Magee, sous chef for MSU Concessions
- Christoph Waldburger, sous chef for The Gallery at Snyder/Phillips
- Jason Strotheide, executive chef for Brody Square and Heritage Commons at Landon
Entrée recipes featured venison saddle as the mandatory protein. The winning dish created by Chef Barlow was a venison tenderloin with wrapped sausage, potatoes and Brussel sprouts. All competitors earned an American Culinary Federation bronze, silver or gold medal after competing, which is a great accomplishment for our chefs!
Chef Barlow will apply for the chance to compete against chefs from across the region at the Midwest Regional Conference in March. Culinary Challenge chairs for each region review applications and select competitors based on the available number of available slots. The front-runner of the Midwest Culinary Challenge will compete against other regional winners on July 11 at the NACUFS National Conference in Denver, Colorado.