Aramark’s Salute Hospitality is dedicated to serving the communities that serve—with a promise to generate customized experiences and create spaces to fuel people and their futures.
On September 17, Aramark’s Salute Hospitality Epicurean Faceoff (SHEF) Competition took place at the Culinary Institute of America in San Antonio, Texas. This event was the final round of a year-long quarterly cooking competition where the winners from all previous competitions faced off. It was a high stakes cookoff where 11 Airmen, representing Aramark’s Air Force base portfolio, faced off in a quickfire battle of culinary excellence. The Airmen were armed with only the surprise ingredients from a mystery basket.
The competition was a race against time, with a 100-minute deadline to prepare their meal and impress the judges. Each Airman presented their creation and provided the judges with the inspiration that led to the dish. Afterward, the dishes were scored based on sanitation, taste, presentation, and overall creativity.
The event was designed to energize and engage Airmen in a fast-paced challenge, allowing them to demonstrate the culinary skills they’ve acquired from daily duties and extensive training with Salute Hospitality executive chefs.
Congratulations to our three winners:
1st: Airman Sharon Villacres-Baracaldo – Altus AFB, Oklahoma
2nd: SRA Chanel Soule - JBMDL, New Jersey
3rd: SRA Petisha Helgenberger - Little Rock, Arkansas
Sharon Villacres-Baracaldo won the competition with a salmon chorizo medley topped with creamy chorizo tomato sauce, inspired by her favorite restaurant in Queens, New York.
“My first competition at Altus was when I was fresh out of technical school in February,” she said. “I felt very unprepared and wasn’t ready, but my noncommissioned officers encouraged me to try it. I was going up against a lot of senior airmen and airmen first class who had been in the Air Force a lot longer and had more experience cooking, but they gave me a lot of pointers on how to cook certain things, what to do, especially in our day-to-day food preparation for the DFAC. All the things I was able to learn from them I incorporated in the second competition.”
Click to read more about the chef's experiences (featured in the Airforce installation and mission support center article) and the exciting competition details (covered in FoodService Director).
"Salute Hospitality is incredibly proud of the impact our SHEF Competition has had on the U.S. Air Force culinary program. Hosting this event in San Antonio allowed us to energize and engage the talented airmen representing Aramark’s Air Force base portfolio and showcase the exceptional culinary skills they’ve developed through daily duties and extensive training," said Kimberly Graves, marketing director at Aramark Salute Hospitality. "The high stakes cook-off not only highlighted their adaptability and creativity but also underscored our commitment to creating customized experiences that fuel the futures of those who serve our nation.”
Congratulations to all our participants and thank you to everyone that supported this fantastic event!
