JJC Culinary Team Earns Silver Medal at 2024 ACF National Convention

Olympians aren’t the only ones winning medals this summer. The Joliet Junior College student culinary competition team finished in fourth place at the American Culinary Federation (ACF) National Convention Student Team of the Year competition with 82.5 points, enough for a silver medal.

“This was an extremely solid team, very hardworking, very talented,” said Chef Paul Bringas, the team’s coach. “We worked and practiced three days a week through summer break. The plates they produced were just beautiful and delicious. I am very proud of them and proud to have been their coach. It was a pleasure.”

The team qualified to the national competition after winning the central regional in April. Team members include Tom Yanek, Ryan Radetski, Nicole Wiseman, Nalia Warmack and Olivia Valentino. For the competition, they had to prepare four plates each of a four-course meal. Chef Bringas said the competitors were encouraged to have a theme throughout their courses, and the JJC team chose to feature summer fruits. The student teams had 20 minutes to prepare, 90 minutes to cook, 20 minutes to plate and 20 minutes to clean.

“It’s always a highlight to get to the national level and competition,” said Chef Bringas. “It required endless hours of practice and preparation. The competition from across the nation is intense.”

Part of that preparation was learning and applying from previous competitions.

“We really improved our organization with our food items and our equipment cart,” said Chef Bringas. “We took advice from the floor judges at nationals last year and from the regional, more recently. I am extremely happy with the improvements the team made throughout the competition season.”

Though the team has added another medal to the prestige of JJC culinary arts management, ACF competitions are about much more than bringing home hardware.

“Competitions provide our students with an opportunity to not only cook at a high level — it improves their confidence, skills, organization, communication, teamwork and character,” said Chef Bringas. “Students who compete are highly sought after from industry leaders. Competitions push the coaches and our colleagues to instruct and teach at a high level, which keeps JJC at the forefront of culinary programs across the nation.”