The lobby and dining room at the Arizona Culinary Institute (ACI) overflow with students clutching C-CAP white coats, teachers, parents, siblings and friends.
It’s not even close to chaos, but there's a palpable anxiety in the air. Still, once the students are inside the kitchen area and listening to C-CAP president and founder Richard Grausman deliver final advice, everyone seems to take a deep breath.He tells them to “push hard at the beginning, and make sure you take enough time with the plates.”
Energy levels begin to rise as Glenn Humphrey, ACI’s placement director and C-CAP’s leaad judge, provides directions and instructions (“You only need to measure milk.”) for Arizona’s final 2010 C-CAP competition.
He adds one final admonition, “Have fun!” and students take their places in one of ACI’s two kitchens being used this morning and scurry to assemble their stations.
There’s still tension in the air, but these aspiring young professionals appear both focused and confident.
The nine judges, and Richard Grausman, too, prowl and prowl among the students as they work.
Chef Grausman is an inveterate instructor, stopping often to demonstrate a better technique. Chef Tracy Fierros tastes, questions and tastes again. All of the judges write and write and write.
Chef Joe LaVilla takes a minute to explain what he’s looking for, “First, technique. Cleanliness. The comfort level in working, and how they’re thinking things through.
“Under pressure, it’s easy to forget the things you know. If you know the basics well, then you’re safe. It comes down to dedication.”
Judges begin tasting the minute the first plates appear. Before noon, all of the plates are out, tasting is almost complete and the judges begin to assess presentations.
The students clean up their stations and begin to wait. It’s a long afternoon, and interviews will take nearly all of it. Monday’s scholarship presentations seem a long time away,
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