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UAA Celebrity Chef Invitational hosts acclaimed chef By: Staff Sep 9, 2009 He'll serve a Southern-inspired menu at the Sept. 16 event
ANCHORAGE, AK – Acclaimed Chef John Besh is the feature of the 17th Annual Celebrity Chef Invitational at UAA’s Lucy Cudd y Dining Hall on Wednesday, September 16. Chef Besh will serve a Southern-inspired menu to a host of local aficionados.
The Celebrity Chef Invitational is a fundraiser that showcases UAA’s talented Culinary Arts and Hospitality students to key players in Alaska’s hospitality industry. The funds raised provide scholarship opportunities to students and provides for maintenance of state-of-the-art learning facilities.
The event is by invitation only and will host approximately 300 people from many of the program’s corporate sponsors, including the First National Bank Alaska, Food Services of America, Hotel Captain Cook, Anchorage Convention and Visitors Bureau, Downtown Marriott, and Linford of Alaska. Local Team Chefs heading up courses are Chef Eric DuBey, Glacier Brewhouse; Chef Elizabeth Fackler, AVTEC; Chef Travis Haugen, Southside Bistro; Chef Brett Knipmeyer, Kinley’s; and Chef Kevin Tubbs, Executive Chef/Consultant.
Chef Besh grew up in southern Louisiana and has set the benchmark for fine dining in New Orleans. Each of his four successful restaurants (, , and ) celebrate the bounty and traditions of the region, and two more, well on the way ( and The American Sector), are poised to follow suit.
Besh is dedicated to the culinary riches of Louisiana, preserving and promoting ingredients, techniques, and heritage one mouth-watering dish at a time. Besh’s talent and drive have earned him continuous kudos from the outset of his career: from Food & Wine’s “Top 10 Best New Chefs in America” to Gourmet’s “Guide to America’s Best Restaurants,” and “America’s Top 50 Restaurants.”
The Culinary Arts and Hospitality programs are a part of UAA’s Community and Technical College. The Hospitality and Restaurant Management program offers students the opportunity to acquire the business management skills and hospitality finesse needed to develop a career in the expanding hotel and restaurant industries. The Culinary Arts program provides essential training in the ever-expanding food-service industry.
According to UAA’s Culinary Arts Web site, hospitality and tourism are two of the world’s leading industries, and are the largest retail employers in the United States. Approximately one in 12 people are employed by these industries in the U.S. alone.
This year’s event begins with a cocktail reception at 6 p.m. with dinner at 7 p.m.
Chef Besh will be available for interviews on Tuesday, Sept. 15 from 1-3 p.m. and Wednesday, Sept. 16 from noon-2 p.m. in Cuddy Hall. To arrange an interview with Chef Besh, please contact Lynette Peplow at (907) 786-1487 or anlep@uaa.alaska.edu.
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