A Saucy congrats to St. Louis chefs Ben Grupe and Kevin Storm for making it to the Olympics – the culinary Olympics, that is. Grupe, currently sous chef at St. Louis Country Club, and Storm, executive chef at Bellerive Country Club since 1996, are among the six chefs named to the American Culinary Federation Culinary Team USA.
According to Grupe, the selection process began nearly a year ago, when some 50 chefs submitted their applications. A review process narrowed the pool down to 26, and the candidates were invited to participate in a cold-food competition in February. Based on the results of that round, 19 finalists qualified to participate in a hot-food competition held last weekend at Elgin Community College in Elgin, IL.
For the hot-food competition, each participant was allotted two and a half hours to prepare a seafood starter using Alaskan seafood and an entrée that featured veal, beef, lamb or pork. A panel of judges evaluated presentation and layout, composition and harmony of ingredients, correct preparation and craftsmanship, serving methods, and portions. Other evaluation criteria included each chef’s overall skill set, personality, attitude and ability to work as a member of a team.
Grupe, Storm and the rest of Culinary Team USA will represent the U.S. at the Culinary World Cup in Luxembourg in November and at the International Culinary Art Exhibition, aka the culinary Olympics, that will take place in Erfurt, Germany in 2012.
“It’s a dream come true,” said Grupe. “It’s been my goal for the last three years.”
The rigor of the tryouts may have ended, but the team won’t have too much time to rest. According to Grupe, Team USA will be meeting at various Johnson & Wales University campuses throughout the U.S. in preparation for the fall showdown.
– Ligaya Figueras
This article appears in Apr 1-30, 2010.