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Incoming School of Culinary Arts Student Jose Gonzales Featured on “Undercover Boss”

Amber, Wednesday, August 25th, 2010 | Category: Featured | Permalink | Email this
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Jose Gonzales can’t believe how fortunate he is. It all started while he was working at a White Castle in Chicago and was featured on the CBS show “Undercover Boss,” where he had the opportunity to work with White Castle owner Dave Rife. During that visit, Jose expressed his desire to go to culinary school and eventually open his own restaurant. Rife was so impressed with Jose’s work ethic (and his delicious homemade salsa), that at the end of the show he surprised Jose with the news that White Castle would offer him a $20,000 scholarship to attend culinary school.

Guess where Jose, the recent Chicago public high school grad, will be starting classes this fall? That’s right—Kendall! But Jose’s good fortune doesn’t stop there. In addition to the scholarship from White Castle, Jose was awarded the 2010 Frontera Scholarship to Kendall from Chef Rick Bayless.

While Jose’s official culinary education is just about to begin, he already has accomplished something many experienced chefs would only dream of. On August 17, Rife and Jose met again, this time here at Kendall, where Jose prepared his salsa once more and Rife announced that they will test market it in some of White Castle’s restaurants. Congratulations to Jose and we look forward to seeing him in Kendall’s kitchens this fall!

Jose Gonzales Wins Frontera Scholarship 2010 to Kendall College

Amber, Friday, August 13th, 2010 | Category: Around Town, Featured | Permalink | Email this
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Chicago Public High School student Jose Gonzales was announced the winner of the Frontera Scholarship 2010 at a press conference held at Frontera Grill on July 16. Celebrity Chef Rick Bayless launched the Frontera Scholarship program in 2008 in conjunction with Kendall College, which he believes to be one of the best culinary schools in the country.

Each year Chef Bayless, along with other board members, selects a Mexican-American student from the Chicago Public School System who has shown a genuine and consistent interest in the hospitality industry. The winning student is then awarded a full scholarship to attend Kendall College’s School of Culinary Arts for an Associate of Applied Science degree in culinary arts or baking and pastry. In addition, the winning student gets to do an internship at Chef Bayless’ restaurants—and the chance to accompany the Frontera team on their annual trip to Mexico.

The judging panel consisted of Rick Bayless, Chef/Owner of Frontera Grill and Topolobampo; Christopher Koetke, Dean of the School of Culinary Arts at Kendall College; Sheila O’Grady, President of the Illinois Restaurant Association; George Cardenas, Alderman; David Blackmon, Program Manager Hospitality & Culinary Arts, CPS ETC; and Steve Dolinsky, ABC-TV.

Click here to learn more about scholarship resources, including the Frontera scholarship.

Congratulations to the Kendall College 2010 ACF Culinary Knowledge Bowl National Champs!

Amber, Wednesday, August 4th, 2010 | Category: Around Town, Featured | Permalink | Email this
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Kendall College School of Culinary Arts students won the 2010 ACF National Baron H. Galand Culinary Knowledge Bowl at the American Culinary Federation’s (ACF) National Convention in Anaheim, California on August 2. The winning team consisted of Allison Chikos, Erika Giffin, Sarah Roberts, Jacquie Wallner and Edward Whitney. Coached by Chef Instructor Dina Altieri, C.E.C, C.C.E., this team represents the best of what Kendall is all about–working hard and achieving excellence.

The team advanced to the national competition after being named the Central Regional Champion team at the ACF 2010 Central Regional Conference in Indianapolis on March 26, where they beat 11 other teams.

To take the national title in Anaheim and win their gold medals, the team had to earn the most points for correctly answering “Jeopardy”-style culinary questions in a round-robin challenge, beating finalist teams from California, Florida and Pennsylvania. This is a tremendous achievement as Kendall has never even had a team compete in the Knowledge Bowl competition, let alone win both the regional and national titles!

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Kendall College 75th Anniversary Dinner raises over $50,000 for the Kendall College Charitable Trust Scholarship Fund

Amber, Thursday, July 15th, 2010 | Category: Alumni, Featured, Inside Kendall | Permalink | Email this
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On April 29, Kendall College hosted Diamond Dreams: Celebrating 75 Years of Kendall College, a dining event benefiting the Kendall College Charitable Trust (KCCT), a not-for-profit organization that provides financial support to Kendall students in need. More than $50,000 was raised at the event for scholarships, which included a donation of $2,000 from the Confrerie de la Chaine des Rotisseurs Foundation.

With Kendall hospitality students on hand to help with event proceedings, the evening started with a welcome reception and silent auction. An ice sculpture adorning the room was crafted by Kendall culinary students, and appetizers and cocktails were prepared by Kendall’s alumni chef instructors. The attendees then broke off into three different rooms for private dining experiences with special guest chefs. Desserts were prepared by Kendall baking and pastry students.

Guest chefs included Kendall alumni from notable Chicago restaurants, including Jose Garces of Mercat a la Planxa and winner of the Food Network’s “The Next Iron Chef;” Christian Eckmann of Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises; Bill Kim of UrbanBelly; Timothy R. Cottini of Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba; and Kristine F. Subido of Wave at the W Hotel Chicago. Ryan Pitts of RL Restaurant also participated. Culinary students at Kendall College had the opportunity to support the guest and alumni chefs in the kitchens.

The event brought together many leaders from Kendall College’s 75-year history including Thomas Kerr, former president; Raymond Geraldson and Penny Brown, former board chairs; Christian DeVos, former dean and trustee; Dr. Karen Gersten, provost and interim president; Dr. Lynn Eramo, former trustee; Ira E. Graham, past board member; David Kipley, current board member and Paula Singer, board chair and president of Laureate Higher Education Group, a division of Kendall’s parent company Laureate Education.

Click here for more information about the Kendall College Charitable Trust.

Kendall Chefs Join Launch of First Lady’s Child-Obesity Initiative at White House

Amber, Sunday, July 11th, 2010 | Category: Around Town, Featured | Permalink | Email this
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As communities and organizations get behind First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! campaign to solve the childhood-obesity epidemic within a generation, one group that could have a tremendous impact on the health and well-being of children is the nation’s chefs.

That’s why Christopher Koetke, dean of Kendall’s School of Culinary Arts and vice president, culinary arts, of Laureate International Universities network, along with Renee Zonka, managing director and associate dean of the school, and baking-and-pastry instructor Heidi Hedeker joined more than 500 chefs from across the country on Friday, June 4, to attend Mrs. Obama’s “Chefs Move to Schools” kickoff on the South Lawn of the White House.

The Chefs Move to Schools program, which will be run through the U.S. Department of Agriculture and led by Sam Kass, White House assistant chef, is the latest in Mrs. Obama’s Let’s Move! campaign. At the June 4 gathering, Obama addressed the chefs who will participate in the pilot launch of the program and encouraged them to help kids build healthy habits to last a lifetime. She asked chefs to find other volunteers, put on cooking demonstrations, work with elementary-school teachers and help students plant a garden.

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