POTSDAM -- Four PACES dining service managers from SUNY Potsdam earned a bronze medal at the SUNY Culinary Summit competition held on the University at Buffalo campus last month.

The Culinary Summit featured guest speakers, discussions, hands-on interest sessions and an exciting “market basket” competition featuring six SUNY Dining Service teams. The PACES team included Amy Hazen, manager, Bowman kitchen/commissary; John VanKennen, manager, Thatcher kitchen (team captain); Melanie Rogers, assistant manager, Student Union Dining Court; and Joel Brown, manager, Becky’s Place and Tim Hortons.

Each team was given three hours to prepare and serve a four-course meal with ingredients from a “mystery market basket.” The menu could consist of appetizer, soup, salad, entrée or dessert. Teams were judged on sanitation/food handling, cooking techniques and execution, proper use of ingredients, work flow, presentation, portion and nutritional balance, creativity, and flavor, taste and texture of the finished meal.

The competition, sanctioned by the American Culinary Federation was part of the first annual SUNY Culinary conference.

John VanKennen is the only member of our team who has certified culinary training. “So I was a little nervous to compete -- I didn’t want to let my teammates or PACES down,” he said. “It was an awesome experience and I feel we all learned a lot- about cooking and each other.”

Joel Brown who has worked for PACES for 15 years and is a graduate of the BOCES Culinary program, appreciated the opportunity to compete as well as participate in the summit.

“The Summit as a whole was an amazing experience,” he said. “I learned skills from trained chefs at the conference that I have implemented at Becky’s Place -- my wife is happy too, because I am practicing them at home.”

One of the best parts of the experience, according to Amy Hazen who has worked for PACES for 28 years but who had never competed in a culinary challenge before, was the “way our team just came together; every member stepped in, the flow was great, we had laughs, but we took it seriously.

Ray Bowdish, professor of biology, and Amy Conger, executive chef, also attended the conference and participated in the session on “Integrating Local Produce into Volume Food Service.” The biology department and PACES collaborate on producing microgreens in the Wiser Greenhouse for use on campus.