John Graziano (left) and Jason Nyman from The Valley Hospital were the Gold Medal winners. They prepared Tex Mex chicken and waffles.The team from The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, N.J., took top honors in the Association for Healthcare Foodservice’s 2016 Culinary Competition.
In addition, placing second in the competition were Timothy Gee and Michael Kasperek from Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, N.J. They prepared sous vide saffron sea bass with orange infused tomato and basil, zucchini ribbons and refried bean potato pancake.
Placing third is the team of Jacob Kuchan and Drew Patterson from The Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio. They prepared poached sockeye salmon with potato crusted vichyssoise, cherry tomatoes and shitake mushrooms glazed in a roasted potato sauce, and scallions.
The winning dish had to fit within the competition’s stated nutritional guidelines — cost less than $8 to produce, taste delicious, and be appropriate to serve in a facility on regular menu rotation, whether retail, catering or patient feeding. These teams and their dishes were judged on organization, culinary skills, taste and presentation.
