The month of March will be particularly busy for Chef Michael Stamets. In addition to busily performing his role of Associate Dean of Hospitality and Culinary & Event Center at SUNY Broome, he will devote a portion of his time to serving as the lead certified judge for the 46th annual Joint Culinary Training Event in Fort Lee, Virginia. This live training competition brings together over 140 student and professional chefs and culinarians from all branches of service from across the world.
“The Joint Culinary Training Event is one of my favorite culinary competitions because it brings together active duty food service and culinary operations service members from the Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard to learn, create, and compete. Though I was not personally in the military, I come from a long line of service members and am honored to support the armed forces in any way that I can,” said Stamets.
Stamets will preside alongside several fellow American Culinary Federation (ACF) certified judges critiquing chefs in daily events via an Olympic-style competition format. Competitors are graded on their overall presentation, composition, craftsmanship/quality, serving arrangement and portioning and are eligible for titles that include “Armed Forces Chef of the Year” and “Student Team of the Year.”
Chef Stamets is part of a very select cohort of less than 100 ACF certified culinary judges in the United States. ACF certified culinary judges are required to maintain extensive culinary credentials which include a mandatory requirement of personally earning at least four culinary gold medals within the last ten years in either ACF or a major WACS-approved competitions.
“Being a judge and a member of the Culinary Competition Committee for the Northeast Region is such a great part of my life as a chef. I love that I have the opportunity through competitions to travel, share some knowledge, and give back to our community of culinary and hospitality professionals,” shared Stamets.
Stamets is an ardent believer in the educational and professional value of culinary competitions and eagerly participates in all capacities as a mentor, judge, and even fellow competitor.
“Right now my two main focuses are SUNY Broome and competitive judging. In May of 2023, however, I am hoping to temporarily replace judging with training in preparation for the Culinary Olympic tryouts in 2025. Culinary competitions provide so much to chefs at all stages of our careers. They offer an opportunity to be judged by our peers with discerning palates and to receive constructive and applicable feedback that ultimately serve to enhance future culinary experiences for our customers.”
As a culinarian, Stamets is excited to share his experiences as a judge, mentor, and competitor with SUNY Broome’s culinary students. Current culinary student, Justin Yap, was bitten by the competition bug and will be representing SUNY Broome in May as he competes in the “Student Chef of the Year” competition via the ACF in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Learn more about SUNY Broome’s Hospitality Programs Department.
