John Barker, a sous chef at the University of Lynchburg, won a bronze medal in the National Association of Colleges & University Food Services Culinary Challenge, held Monday, Feb. 24, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Nearly 600 college and university chefs entered the competition, and only six were selected to compete at the regional event. Barker faced off against chefs from universities across the Mid-Atlantic, including Rutgers, Penn State, Johns Hopkins, Richmond, and Villanova.
“The experience was incredible,” Barker said, adding that he was “incredibly thankful for the opportunity to represent the University of Lynchburg and grateful to bring back another accolade to our award-winning dining services program.”
Barker also hopes to compete again in the future and bring back a gold medal.
Michael Vaughn, assistant vice president of operations, called news of Barker’s third-place finish “amazing …. because he was competing against much larger schools.”
Each chef in the competition prepared an original recipe containing the following, mandatory ingredients: a whole chicken and chicken livers.
For his entry, Barker prepared a pan-seared chicken breast, fondant sweet potatoes, sautéed pearl onions, and a chicken liver and Grand Marnier mousse with macerated cherries and a cherry balsamic glaze.
There was a one-hour time limit for chefs to prepare their meals, and the competition was held in front of a live audience.
“This is a tremendous feat, considering it’s John’s first culinary competition and that this is an American Culinary Federation-sanctioned event,” Shaun Dearden, Lynchburg’s director of dining services, said.
“The ACF maintains the highest standards in the culinary field and does not award medals unless they are absolutely earned by the competing chef. We are all very proud of John’s efforts and his representation of our dining program here at the University of Lynchburg.”
