April 1, 2014 (Raleigh, N.C.) – Four employees of Yates Mill Bakery, NC State’s on-campus gourmet bakery, received medals at Wake Tech’s annual Culinary Arts Showcase. The event was held March 31 and featured cooking challenges, exquisite cake displays, food samples from top Triangle restaurants, culinary demonstrations and cupcake decorating. The showcase also included live music, ice carvings and a silent auction.
Kelly Bellmore, executive pastry chef for NC State Dining, received a gold medal in the celebration cake category, as well as a silver medal for her cold plated dessert. Yolanda Santiago earned a bronze medal in the buffet platter category for her petit fours. JoAnn Rey received a gold medal in the student hot food competition and KC Shepard earned a bronze medal in the student wedding cake category.
“I enjoy competing each year; it gives me the opportunity to practice and improve on my technique,” said Kelly Bellmore, Executive Pastry Chef for Yates Mill Bakery. “My favorite part of competing is talking to the other competitors, student and professional, because we all have a chance to learn from each other and to teach each other something new.”
The Culinary Arts Showcase is an American Culinary Federation Sanctioned Culinary Competition held in Raleigh each year. Proceeds from the event benefit students through the Wake Tech Culinary Arts Fund. The core sponsor of the showcase is US Foods.
NC State Dining of NC State opened Yates Mill Bakery in the fall of 2013 as a part of the $120 million Talley Student Union Renovation and Addition Project. The on-campus bakery is within Talley Market which offers a variety of gourmet sweet treats to guests in addition to a Howling Cow® ice cream bar and a marketplace where grab-and-go items are offered.
NC State Dining is a service of Campus Enterprises, the lead division for retail and hospitality at NC State University. For more information, contact Joanna Minett at 919.513.3969 or via email at: jlminett@ncsu.edu.
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