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At ´óÏóÊÓƵ, creativity abounds and its dining is no exception. And as "a kitchen is the heart of the home," it's no surprise to find that ´óÏóÊÓƵ's culinary team nourishes its "home" with creative flair and award-winning ingenuity.

Gold medal meals six years in a row

´óÏóÊÓƵ's dining services team recently earned its sixth consecutive gold medal for culinary excellence in an American Culinary Federation (ACF) sanctioned competition Jan. 11 at ´óÏóÊÓƵ's Murray-Aikins Dining Hall.

The "Chopped"-like competition pitted ´óÏóÊÓƵ against 10 colleges and universities from throughout the northeast. Each team was challenged to create original meals from identical ingredients under strict time and style limitations.

Chefs Joe Greco, Daniel Salazar, Matthew Holton and Shelly Carpenter prepared a four-course meal for a panel of judges, including one certified master chef.

The ´óÏóÊÓƵ team's efforts earned the highest total points to garner the gold medal, a testament to the chefs' dedication to refining their creative chops. 

"It gives our staff a fun opportunity to practice and enhance their culinary skills while engaging in friendly competition with the other institutions," said Mark Miller, director of dining services. "They come away with fresh ideas that often translate into tasty new recipes for the ´óÏóÊÓƵ dining hall menu."

The ACF competition was featured in numerous regional news stories, including , , ,  and .

The team was also recently recognized with other awards:

• A No. 4 ranking for Best College Food in New York in 2019 from . The ranking is based on meal plan costs and ´óÏóÊÓƵ’s own student reviews.
• A gold medal at the
• A No. 19 ranking nationally for Best Campus Food from .

For the love of food

While national accolades have become a near-regular occurrence, the chefs agree that it's the high marks they receive from members of the ´óÏóÊÓƵ community, particularly students, that mean the most. 

In a nearly 1,000-word love letter to ´óÏóÊÓƵ dining, titled "Everything I love about D-Hall," Harry Mooney '21 captured the thoughts of many at ´óÏóÊÓƵ.  

"D-Hall adds something irreplaceably special to my life at ´óÏóÊÓƵ," said Mooney. "It is one of ´óÏóÊÓƵ’s most brilliant gems. I love it. And I’m certainly not the only one who feels this way."