Schaumburg native named Almost Famous Chef
Schaumburg native Jennifer Kim cooked her way to $22,000 in prizes and the title “S. Pellegrino Almost Famous Chef” at a heated competition in Napa, Calif. over the weekend.
Kim, who studied culinary arts at Harper College in Palatine before transferring to Kendall College in Chicago, beat out nine other regional semifinals for the award, the 10th annual given by the global water company.
The finals were held at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley, Calif., where Kim and the other student chefs from the United States and Canada had to prepare 250 plates of their signature dish for a banquet and the judges. Kim's dish, Chard-Rolled Duck Roulade, proved excellent to the taste buds of Michelin Star and James Beard Award — winning chefs Eric Ripert of Le Bernardin, Tony Mantuano of Spiaggia, Michel Richard of Citronelle, Gary Danko of Restaurant GARY DANKO, Susur Lee of LEE Restaurant, Bob Hurley of Hurley's and Jean Joho of Everest.
Of the competition, chef mentor and judge Mantuano said, “I don't think there is anything more important that we can do to lend our knowledge and experience to the kids that are trying to make it in our industry. I wish I had a mentor like that when I was in their position.”
Now, as the 2012 titleholder of the S. Pellegrino Almost Famous Chef Competition, Kim has the opportunity to work with one of the chef judges of the finals competition in a year-paid apprenticeship and received $13,000 for her winning signature dish. Kim, who graduates in April, was also the winner of the Mystery Basket competition.
“I am speechless and this is a dream come true — to be chosen as the winner of a culinary competition of this caliber by the best chefs in the nation,” Kim said. “I'm honored and ready for my career to begin with one of the chef mentors.”
This is the second time in two years a suburbanite has won the competition. 2011's Almost Famous Chef toque went to Marco Bahena, a graduate of Adlai Stevenson High School who also attended Kendall College in Chicago.
In addition to rivaling each other for the top prize, the 10 students competed in several other competitions. Daniel Beal of Johnson & Wales University-Denver won the $3,000 Signature Dish prize for his recipe, Sauteed Chicken Breast with Asparagus, Potato and Ox Tongue. In addition, attendees voted for the People's Choice Award and fans voted online for the Acqua Panna Fan Favorite Award. Joseph Johnson of Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts — Los Angeles won the People's Choice Award, taking away $3,000 for his impromptu signature dish, Ras El Hanout Crusted Lamb. Eliakim John Acuna of Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts-Miami won over the online audience with his dish, D' Oceana, winning $3,000.
Throughout the past decade, this competition has partnered with more than 280 award-winning chefs to help launch more than 570 past competitors' culinary careers.
The S. Pellegrino Almost Famous Chef Competition was founded in 2002 as a mentoring program that connects top culinary students with established chefs and influential media. Since then, this program has helped to launch hundreds of culinary careers and refined the skills of a new generation of chefs. Through the Almost Famous Chef Competition, student chefs are given the opportunity to gain unmatched experience, while cooking in some of the most prestigious kitchens in the world.