Annual Vincent DeFinis Cooking Competition Awards Two Scholarships to Academy of Culinary Arts Students

MAYS LANDING — Freshman Atlantic Cape Community College Academy of Culinary Arts (ACA) student Tricia Guittar was a teacher for 22 years, 16 at a charter school in Camden and six in Winslow Township, before realizing that she needed a career change and wanted to pursue her lifelong dream of being a baker.

Having years of experience teaching young children every important subject on the vast curriculum menu, Guittar was now ready to tackle a much different and unique set of ingredients. She sold her house, moved to her family home near the shore and applied to the culinary arts program.

Guittar and fellow classmate Citlally Cruz both earned $15,000 scholarships at the Annual Vincent DeFinis Restaurant Gala Scholarship cooking competition on September 27 at the Mays Landing campus. The scholarships were provided by the Atlantic Cape Foundation and will cover the winning students’ tuition and fees for their sophomore year in the ACA program.

“We are very grateful to the Atlantic Cape Foundation because, through its generosity, we are able to offer two scholarships again this year worth approximately $15,000 each to a culinary major and a baking & pastry major,” said Joseph Sheridan, director, Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management. “This scholarship essentially covers their tuition and fees for a full year.”

This year’s recipe called for the creation of a hot chowder by the hot food students and a quick bread product from those in baking & pastry. Six students - three hot foods and three baking & pastry - had just under two hours to create their signature dishes. Each required varying amounts of slicing, dicing, cutting, chopping and whipping to mixing, warming, shredding, browning and boiling.

The students were judged on their dishes’ taste, texture, portion size, presentation, utilization of the ingredients, and culinary technique. The students also were expected to keep their work space organized and clean throughout the process while focusing on maintaining sound and safe standards and practices too.

Tricia Guittar preparing her dish

With her cheddar bacon beer bread accompanied by greens, peas and slices of tomato and cucumber, Guittar was the baking & pastry scholarship recipient. Guittar decided to apply to Atlantic Cape’s Culinary program after a former colleague’s son, who had graduated from the ACA, spoke highly of his experience. Guittar, who currently resides in Sea Isle City, was humbled to receive this recognition.

“It's a huge honor. I was a teacher for 22 years, but I’ve always wanted to be a baker, so doing this means the world to me. I feel very privileged to be able to come to this school and then to receive this award is amazing,” said Guittar, who has dreamed of being baker since she was about 13 years old. “I come from a family of teachers, so I was kind of put in that direction, but I was not happy doing what I was doing, so I decided to switch.”

For Guittar, practice definitely led to a perfectly-baked bread loaf.

“Today’s was the best. I made about three different ones since I found out (about this competition) a week ago. I've been stressing about it all week, to the point where at 5 a.m. I was trying to get into the Acme to switch my cheese. But, this loaf was the best I've made,” said Guittar.

Citlally Cruz preparing her dish

Citlally Cruz was the culinary hot foods scholarship recipient thanks to her small crockpot of Mexican sweet corn chowder with a side of salsa and corn tortilla chip strip. Cruz, who is also a freshman and currently resides in Vineland, spoke of how rewarding it was to be selected the winner.

“It means a lot because I really needed help paying off school. Not only that, I have other responsibilities and my parents can't really help me that much financially. With that many responsibilities and then overworking myself, as well, not even having a single day off of work and school. It's a little stressful sometimes. So, this really makes me happy,” said Cruz.

The idea for Cruz’s culinary creation came to her following a last-minute change of plans.

“I came up with it last night. I had an original idea of doing a salmon chowder instead, but because it didn't work out during my trial runs I scratched it. I got really emotional over it. I was really doubting myself, so when I heard my name I was really surprised because it was a very last-minute thing that I came up with literally at 1 a.m. I went to sleep at two, woke up and I had to rethink it at 6 a.m. again and it was really stressful,” said Cruz.

Judges for this year’s competition included Dan Frankowski, food buyer manager at Atlantic Cape. Frankowski graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 2006 and has years of culinary experience in casino hotels, fine dining, catering and short order cooking. The second judge, Karen Delbora, is a 1993 ACA alumna and current executive pastry chef at Renault Winery Resort in Egg Harbor City, NJ. Delbora, who currently resides in Egg Harbor City as well, looked back fondly on her time at the ACA.

“I grew up here and this is where it all started. This was my foundation. This is where I got everything, made connections and my instructors really pushed me to try everything,” said Delbora, who worked at several casino hotel properties in Atlantic City, the Carriage House in Galloway and did her externship at Disney World. 

At the end of the competition, Sheridan had sage words of advice for all of the students.

“Be willing to take that little bit of risk to help expand your horizons, grow your experience and build your career,” said Sheridan.

Nearly a quarter of a million dollars is raised for culinary and hospitality scholarships, such as the Vincent DeFinis scholarship, at the Annual Atlantic Cape Restaurant Gala, the culinary program’s largest fundraising event. DeFinis began in the hotel industry in 1932 and worked in many food and beverage departments of service under various Ritz-Carlton Hotel System European chefs. DeFinis also served in the Air Force as food supervisor with the Eighth Air Force Service Command during World War II. DeFinis passed away in 2007.

View a photo gallery of this event on Flickr here.

Visit atlanticcape.edu/aca for more information on the Academy of Culinary Arts program.

About Atlantic Cape Community College

Atlantic Cape Community College is a Middle States accredited, 2022 Achieving the Dream Leader College and Hispanic Serving Institution proudly serving the residents of Atlantic and Cape May counties. As a comprehensive, two-year community college, Atlantic Cape offers 47 undergraduate degree programs, and 33 certificate and professional series programs at its Mays Landing, Atlantic City and Cape May campuses. Atlantic Cape is home to the renowned Academy of Culinary Arts, rated the top culinary school in New Jersey, and for more than 50 years, our highly-acclaimed Nursing program. Atlantic Cape also partners with more than 30 colleges and four-year universities to offer students the opportunity to seamlessly earn a bachelor’s degree upon graduation.