Culinary Institute of America Cooking with MTI Students

( Bradenton , FL — January 30, 2008 ) Culinary Arts students from Manatee Technical Institute will get a chance to cook with the best when three distinguished chefs from the Culinary Institute of America come to MTI on February 19 and 20.

MTI's culinary program piqued the interest of the CIA chefs when they served as judges at the SkillsUSA state competition, which MTI hosted last April. According to MTI chef instructor Bert Spagnola, “they were very impressed with the level of skill they saw in the MTI competitors.”

The two-day event is being presented as “A Salute to Your Career in Culinary.” MTI has invited culinary arts classes from Pinellas and Sarasota county schools to join them for the event.

Students will break into small groups on Tuesday morning to prepare lunch in a session called “Cooking with the Chefs,” followed by an open discussion and critique of the day's activities. Students will spend the school day Wednesday preparing a dinner, to which they may invite two guests. The salute will end with the CIA chefs sharing words of wisdom with the students and talking about what the future holds for them in their new careers.

CIA Chefs are Anton Floray, CMC; Jacqui Pressinger, AOS; and Arnym Solomon, CFBE, CHE, AOS; and MTI Chef Garry Colpitts, CEC. See attachment for schedule and menus.

The mission of Manatee Technical Institute is to meet and exceed our community's training and educational expectations. MTI is a 2007 Tampa Bay Business of the Year and has won more SkillsUSA medals than any other school in the nation for the past four years.

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