AMERICAN CULINARY FEDERATION PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release: August 11, 2016

Media Contacts: Stacy Gammill: (904) 484-0213, [email protected]

Utah Valley University Graduate Michelle Stephenson Wins National American Culinary Federation 2016 Student Chef of the Year Competition St. Augustine, Fla., August 11, 2016—The best student chef in the nation, according to the American Culinary Federation (ACF), is Michelle Stephenson, a graduate of Utah Valley University (UVU), Orem, Utah. Stephenson received the 2016 ACF Student Chef of the Year award, sponsored by Custom Culinary®, after winning a competition at Cook. Craft. Create. ACF National Convention & Show held in Phoenix, July 15-19. “This experience has been overwhelming, but it’s a really good feeling to know that my hard work paid off as much as I hoped,” said Stephenson. “It is a huge honor to see where hard work can take me from here. I’ve learned that hard work definitely pays off and to keep going.” In 1987, the late Baron H. Galand, CEC, AAC, HOF, established the Student Chef of the Year award to help student members establish their position within ACF. In 2003, a culinary cook-off for student chefs was introduced at the national convention, and, for the first time, regional finalists competed for the national title. The award recognizes a talented student or recent graduate who possesses a high degree of professionalism, culinary skill and passion for the culinary arts. ACF chapters first nominate students for their ability to cook, level of skill, strong understanding of cooking fundamentals and classical cooking foundation. Then, students compete to win regional competitions. At the national competition, the four finalists had 1 hour to fabricate and cook and 10 minutes to plate four portions of a finished entree based on arctic char. Stephenson’s winning menu was pan-seared arctic char fillet on a char mousseline-stuffed crepe, with a bacon/kale mixture and a char roe beurre blanc, a crispy char/shrimp cake topped with smoked char belly, with pea/celery root puree and a vegetable medley. Stephenson, who graduated with an associate degree in culinary arts from UVU, is kitchen manager at Station 22 Cafe, Provo, Utah. In 2015 and 2016, she placed second in the commercial baking competition at SkillsUSA, Louisville, Kentucky. Also in 2015, she earned a gold medal in an ACF-sanctioned competition. She has received the Student of Excellence Award from the department of culinary arts at UVU and is a member of ACF Beehive Chefs Chapter Inc.

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More than 850 chefs, cooks, students and foodservice professionals attended Cook. Craft. Create. ACF National Convention & Show, hosted by the ACF Chef’s Association of Arizona, Inc. The event provided attendees with numerous opportunities to advance their professional development and enhance their culinary skills through informative workshops and seminars, cutting-edge demonstrations, a trade show featuring nearly 100 exhibitors, a career fair, national competitions and ACF’s annual national awards. Sponsors of Cook. Craft. Create. ACF National Convention & Show are: Aloutte Cheese USA; Allen Brothers; American Technical Publishers; BelGioioso Cheese, Inc.; Canadian Lentils; Custom Culinary®; Friedr. Dick Corporation; Ecolab®; The Glutamate Association; Jones Dairy Farm; J.R. Simplot Company; Lactalis Foodservice, Inc.; Libbey Foodservice; Minor’s®; National Fisheries Institute; NEWCHEF Fashion Inc.; OptiFog Lenses by Essilor; Par-Way Tryson Company, makers of Vegalene; Perdue Foods, LLC; Plugrá® European-Style Butter; PolyScience Culinary; RATIONAL USA; Restaurantware LLC; Taylor Shellfish Farms; Unilever Food Solutions; US Foods; Valrhona; Victorinox Swiss Army; Vitamix; and Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board. About the American Culinary Federation The American Culinary Federation, Inc. (ACF), established in 1929, is the standard of excellence for chefs in North America. With more than 17,500 members spanning more than 150 chapters nationwide, ACF is the leading culinary association offering educational resources, training, apprenticeship and programmatic accreditation. In addition, ACF operates the most comprehensive certification program for chefs in the United States, with the Certified Executive Chef®, Certified Sous Chef®, Certified Executive Pastry Chef® and Certified Culinary Educator® designations accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies. ACF is home to ACF Culinary Team USA, the official representative for the United States in major international culinary competitions, and to the Chef & Child Foundation, founded in 1989 to promote proper nutrition in children and to combat childhood obesity. For more information, visit www.acfchefs.org. Find ACF on Facebook and on Twitter. ###