Aspiring Chefs Head for the Kitchen to Compete for Scholarships

While some teenagers spend their Saturdays studying for college entrance exams or AP classes, ten North Carolina teens will be heading to Durham to showcase their culinary chops. Durham is a widely known haven for food lovers, and we recently named to Southern Living Magazine's list of the Top Ten Tastiest Towns in the South.

Want to see aspiring chefs who crave a future in the culinary world put their kitchen skills to the test?  Go watch them as they compete for tuition scholarships on Saturday, March 2, 2013, 8am-1:15pm at The International Culinary School at The Art Institute of Raleigh–Durham, a campus of South University. The school is located in the American Tobacco Campus.

This year’s ten finalists were selected from all entries submitted for the opportunity to showcase their culinary talents. Each finalist will prepare a two-course meal from recipes distributed in advance. They will have two hours to prepare and serve the meal, and will be judged on five technical skills including knife skills, safety and sanitation, organization, cooking techniques and clean-up, and five qualities of the finished dishes – temperature, taste, texture, portion size and presentation.

The Local Cook-off Competitions will be judged by professional chefs and culinary faculty, who will name one first place and one second place winner. The winners will earn tuition scholarships – $4,000 for the first place winner and $1,000 for the second place winner.

The public is welcome to attend this event as spectators. For more information, call The Art Institute at 919.317.3050.

For more information about Durham's great dining scene, click here.