JWU chef heads to U.S. cook-off

GEOFFREY LANEZ is heading to Kansas City to compete for the title of student chef of the year, thanks to his win at the American Culinary Federation's Northeast Regional Conference. / COURTESY JOHNSON & WALES UNIVERSITY
GEOFFREY LANEZ is heading to Kansas City to compete for the title of student chef of the year, thanks to his win at the American Culinary Federation's Northeast Regional Conference. / COURTESY JOHNSON & WALES UNIVERSITY

PROVIDENCE – Geoffrey Lanez of East Providence has been named 2014 American Culinary Federation Northeast Region Student Chef of the Year and will compete for a national title in July.

Lanez, a business administration master’s degree student at Johnson & Wales University, received the award after winning a competition during the 2014 ACF Northeast Regional Conference from April 11 to 14.

The ACF Student Chef of the Year Award, sponsored by Custom Culinary Inc., recognizes a student for professionalism, culinary skill and passion for the culinary arts. Approximately 500 chefs, students and food service professionals attended the conference, hosted by ACF Rhode Island Chapter, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Providence-Warwick.

At the regional competition, held at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Lanez competed against three chefs to prepare two portions of a main dish that incorporated a whole bone-in chicken in 1 hour, 40 minutes. He next advances to the national competition in Kansas City, Mo., in July, competing for the national title and $1,000.

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In addition to the student chef category, seven other competitions were held at the conference, including one for student teams. The Johnson & Wales University student team members, Luis Alvarado, Frank Carrieri, Dimitri Demopoulos, Matthew McDonald and Spyridon Giannakoulopoulos, had the highest overall score and received a gold medal at the competition. The team was coached by Ray McCue, assistant professor at the university, and will compete at the national level as well.

Lanez is also a part-time cook at Somerset Club, Boston, and hopes to become a certified master chef, compete at the “culinary Olympics” and earn the title of U.S.A.’s™ Chef of the Year. He is certified by the American Culinary Federation.

”Receiving this award is a humbling moment in my life, as it has been a dream of mine since I began competing four years ago,” said Lanez. “I look forward to competing against my regional counterparts at the 2014 ACF National Convention in Kansas City, Mo., and I wish them the best of luck.”

For more information about the conference, visit www.acfchefs.org/Northeast, or at Facebook.com/ACFChefs or on Twitter @ACFChefs.

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