November 2006

Over 150 guests enjoyed sampling gourmet foods and beverages and bidding in a Silent Auction at the Everybody Wins! CT’s first fundraising event, which was held Thursday, November 9, at the Connecticut Culinary Institute’s new quarters in Hartford. Television and radio food expert Prudence Sloane emceed the festivities while culinary students worked side-by-side with chefs from area restaurants.

Everybody Wins! CT raised over $20,000 from the Night of the Chefs event! This money will be used to provide more opportunities to students involved in our Power Lunch and Readers as Leaders reading enrichment programs.

The evening’s main feature was a lively cooking competition among three American Culinary Federation accredited programs — which guests could observe in the Connecticut Culinary Institute’s three state-of-the-art, glass-enclosed kitchens! Teams from the Center for Culinary Arts, the Connecticut Culinary Institute, and Manchester Community College each created meals from a mystery basket of ingredients that included lamb, shrimp, and scallops.

Congratulations to the Cooking Competition Winners!

• First Place: Manchester Community College
• Second Place: Connecticut Culinary Institute
• Third Place: Center for Culinary Arts

We also invited local culinary schools and community colleges to participate in a cake decorating display, which drew individual entries from Manchester Community College and team entries from Gateway Community College and the Connecticut Culinary Institute. The participants decorated an array of dazzling cakes using both fondant and butter cream frostings. Congratulations to:

Individual Fondant Cake Decorating Winners:

• First Place: Theresa Olchanowski, Manchester Community College
• Second Place: Minh Chu Ny, Manchester Community College
• Third Place: Soupi, Manchester Community College

Individual Butter Cream Frosting Cake Decorating Winners:

• First Place: Amy Olchanowski, Manchester Community College
• Second Place: Lynn Henderson, Manchester Community College
• Third Place: Art Springer, Manchester Community College

Team Cake Decorating Winners:

• First Place: Connecticut Culinary Institute
• Second Place: Norwalk Community College

All winners received trophies as well as donations from Everybody Wins! CT to their schools’ scholarship funds.

Everybody Wins! CT thanks the many sponsors, judges, and committee members who helped to make this evening a total success. Special thanks to the Connecticut Culinary Institute for providing the perfect venue for our event, to the Polytechnic Club, Restaurant Associates, the Connecticut Culinary Institute, and the Center for Culinary Arts for providing food stations, to Wine Cellars, Xcellence Vodka, Vineyard Brands, Bolliger Wines, and Thomas Hooker Brewing Company, Hartford for providing wine, beer, and spirits tasting, and to Cynthia Bulaong, professional event planner extraordinaire! Without the support of the many people who donated their time and financial resources, Night of the Chefs would not have been possible.

Photos compliments of Barbara Steadman of Steadman Photography.

If you wish to make a donation, please make your check payable to “Everybody Wins! CT” and mail it to the attention of Donna Gordon, Executive Director, Everybody Wins! CT, 30 Arbor Street, Hartford, CT 06106.

Thank you for supporting Everybody Wins! CT programs.