Calling All California Teen Chefs.

The Art Institutes 2004 and 2005 Best Teen Chefs were from California. Will the 2006 winner be from California as well? If you can take the heat and you’re a high school senior who dreams of becoming the next great chef, then step into The Art Institute’s kitchen for the 2006 Best Teen Chef Scholarship Competition.

California high school seniors interested in the Culinary Arts are eligible to enter the 2006 Best Teen Chef scholarship competition at one of The Art Institutes in California where a Culinary Arts program is offered in Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego.

“I always knew I wanted to be a chef, so I entered this competition with the hope of winning a scholarship to help me pursue my education in Culinary Arts,” said The Art Institutes’ 2005 Best Teen Chef Adreena Winnfield from San Francisco. “But winning has meant so much more. As the Best Teen Chef I’ve had the most amazing experiences. I’ve cooked with Ellen Degeneres twice on her show, I met congressmen and women on Capitol Hill and I’ve been featured in newspapers across the country. It’s been a real whirlwind experience.”

A semifinalist from each Art Institutes school nationwide will go on to compete in the national finals and vie for more than $200,000 in scholarships, as well as the title of “The Art Institutes’ 2006 Best Teen Chef.” The national winner will receive a full-tuition scholarship valued at more than $35,000 to study Culinary Arts at The Art Institute of their choice.

“This competition is great for students as it gives them their first real taste of how intense and competitive the fast-paced world of Culinary Arts really is,” said Paul Yarmoluk, Culinary Arts Academic Department Director at The Art Institute of California-Orange County. “However, it also gives The Art Institute a chance to discover and develop the best up-and-coming culinary talents in the country.”

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2004-5 Occupational Outlook Handbook predicts a healthy job growth in the culinary industry through the year 2012. The Art Institutes created the Best Teen Chef competition in 2000 to encourage and cultivate young culinary talent. The deadline to enter the competition is February 10, 2006. Entrants must submit:

1. A completed entry form.
2. Copy of your high school transcript.
3. A paragraph covering the topic “why I would like to be a culinary professional” that also identifies the person who inspires you and why.
4. A notebook that includes a menu for a two-course meal, including an appetizer, soup or salad, and a main course with a sauce, garnish, vegetable and starch, accompanied by a detailed recipe and instructions for preparing each course.

A minimum of 10 semifinalists from each Art Institute location will be chosen to compete in local semifinals cook-offs on March 11. Winners from each semifinals competition will become finalists in the national Best Teen Chef 2006 Cook-Off Finals to be held on April 29, 2006 at The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, when the winner will be announced.

For Bryan Maroun from Palmdale, Calif., winning the 2004 Best Teen Chef title “was an amazing opportunity to meet budding chefs from all over the country with the same ambition as you.” Bryan currently works as a dinner chef at Disney’s exclusive member’s only restaurant Club 33 while studying Culinary Arts at The Art Institute of California-Orange County. Adreena Winnfield, 2005 Best Teen Chef champ, is enjoying her first quarter as a Culinary Arts student, also at The Art Institute of California-Orange County.

For more information at http://www.artinstitutes.edu/btc