Thursday, February 26, 2009

Kelly Conwell: student chef of the year

Posted by Owen Morris on Thu, Feb 26, 2009 at 9:30 AM

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Congratulations to Johnson County Community College's Kelly Conwell, who won the central region's student chef of the year award at the American Culinary Federation Conference this past weekend in Schaumburg, Illinois. "I was absolutely completely happy just to even get to regionals and to win -- oh my gosh. Winning is great," she tells me.

Conwell had to beat out three other students and make a menu in 60 minutes plus five minutes to plate. It took nearly a minute for Conwell to just describe everything on her winning menu: sauteed Florida pompano on leek confit, Meyer lemon curd with thyme-honey, lobster sausage, tarragon pesto and fennel "mille feuille," shallot and chive sauce, vegetable medley roasted golden beet puree and Chervil potatoes.

"I put together a dish at the John Joyce competition at JCCC in November and it won," she says. "It wasn't the same but it had the same profiles and flavors and my teacher, Felix Sturmer, helped me put together the new menu."

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Conwell's

next competition is in July in Orlando, where she'll compete against the three

other regions' winners for the top student chef in the country. Conwell is already preparing. Sturmer, she says, "was

like, 'let's take a week off, catch our breath' but I've already called

an amazing pastry chef friend to come and help me create a dessert that

is going to wow the judges.... I've had numerous students offer to help

me practice, professors have volunteered to critique my meals... The

support system is fantastic at JCCC. You couldn't get better."

When Conwell isn't at school, she is usually in the kitchen at the new Chaz in the Raphael Hotel. Previously she worked at Pierpont's and Michael Smith's.

She has lots of options for the future but when I

asked the Concordia, Kansas, native what she wants to do she demurred.

"That changes every day. Being only 21 years old I don't think

I want to own my own restaurant yet. I just applied for a foreign

exchange program to study in Germany for a year and hopefully I get

that. But if I win nationals, then I get to represent the United States

in the international competition in Chile and after that there's

another competition." The college has also added new classes she's interested in

taking. "Things could definitely change. For now, I'm just thinking

about Florida."


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Comments (11)

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kelly,
Congrats! I had no idea the talent i was hiring, haven't known you long, but love your passion for food and love working with you, to bad your leaving soon, was looking forward working with you longer, proud of you and good luck in your culinary future:)

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Posted by michael Colling on March 5, 2009 at 12:19 AM

We are so proud of you!!! What perseverance and creativity you have shown. We love you! The Texas crew.

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Posted by DelAnne Zeller on March 4, 2009 at 8:41 PM

Kelly,
We are so proud of you! What a tremendous talent you are and know that you will wow the judges just by showing up! Give it your best and the rest will fall into place. Love you, Mike and Dina

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Posted by Dina Neeley on March 3, 2009 at 7:36 AM

My German is a little rusty but I think that translates to something like "I am so proud of you. Can I visit you soon?"" Tell me how wrong I am.

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Posted by Owen on March 2, 2009 at 9:26 PM

Kelly - Way to go girl! You've come a long way Lady! Some unsolicited advice - have fun and enjoy the journey! See you in Orlando!

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Posted by John Lovejoy on March 2, 2009 at 8:30 PM

Wow! Wolfgang has nothin' on you girl! You are so adorable too. Good Luck in Orlando, and keep the outsiders posted!

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Posted by Dia Harper on March 2, 2009 at 4:34 PM

Ich bin auf Sie so stolz! Kann ich kommen Besuch?

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Posted by nikki brabeck on March 2, 2009 at 4:16 PM

I have been to a few of Kelly's competitions and have been very impressed with her presentation and composure while she prepares her meals. Congratulations Kelly, you deserve it.

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Posted by Matt Conwell on March 2, 2009 at 3:02 PM

I am so proud of you Kelly! All that hard work has paid off. Congrats!! Maybe some day Smelly Kelly's will really be a reality!!

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Posted by Shanell Champlin Mergerson on March 2, 2009 at 12:07 PM

Kelly has done a tremendous job not only with her studies but also being responsible in virtually putting herself through college. She is a very responsible and mature young lady who has shown her remarkable talents in this contest. As her uncle, I am very please to tell her just how proud her aunt and I are in her. She is a remarkable talent!

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Posted by Doug Conwell on March 2, 2009 at 10:29 AM

Kelly,
Is going to be an awesome Chef because of her desire, passion and the expert mentoring from previous and current Chefs that she works for. This is another example of how fine a culinary program Johnson County Community College has in place.Kelly best of luck in all you do!

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Posted by Mark Webster on February 27, 2009 at 1:16 PM
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