Robert Morris Student Chef Selected for International Competition

(Shown above, Shelley LaMantia, Ethan Zuk, Riana Kaempen, Morgan Nash and Chef Brad Hindsley from Robert Morris University Illinois)

Robert Morris University Illinois (RMU) culinary student Riana Kaempen of Naperville is traveling to Italy. She has been there before, completing her study abroad program at Apicius International School of Hospitality in Florence, but this time, she is going as a student chef selected to participate in the World Association of Culinary Societies (WACS) and the Federazione Italiana Cuochi (Italian Chefs Federation, FIC) Campionati della Cucina Italiana 2019 in Rimini, Italy. She was selected by the chefs at Apicius and is one of a team students from several different countries to compete against professional cooks and chefs in the competition. Riana's specialty is pastry and cake decorating and she will take part in pastry art, creating sculpture with
chocolate.

On Thursday, February 7, Riana's fellow culinary students and instructors held a send off for her in RMU's culinary kitchens as she prepared for her departure on Saturday, February 9. She will start out in Florence for some training, then head to Rimini for the two-day competition. Fellow culinary students Ethan Zuk and Morgan Nash, who made the cut and participated last year, offered advice in anticipation of the competition. "Try to get as much sleep as you can before the
competition begins," Ethan said. "Because you may go for 40 hours straight without much down time."

The "Campionati" (or championships) is part of larger food festival which draws attendance from around the world. It includes contests in hot and cold preparation, pastry, pastry art, confectionary for restaurants, live demonstrations, timed food preparation and best student recognition.

Shelley LaMantia, director of RMU's International Studies, and Brad Hindsley, chair of RMU's culinary program, have worked with Riana in theRMU kitchens and in the classroom. "Chef Simone at Apicius explained that the Campionati event has students compete against professionals,"said Ms. LaMantia. "He says that since both Robert Morris and Apicius train students to become chefs, they should be competing against professional chefs."

A Metea Valley High School graduate, Riana works part time at Cracker Barrel in Naperville. She is looking forward to the experience the competition will bring. "Creating art with chocolate is a great complement to my training in pastry and cake decorating," she said, adding that a cake or dessert can become something very special with the addition of a chocolate artwork.

Robert Morris University Illinois is a not-for-profit, accredited baccalaureate and graduate degree granting institution, serving studentsinterested in getting an education in business, graphic arts, nursing and health care, culinary and computer studies at its main campus in Chicago,as well as at locations in Arlington Heights, Elgin, Orland Park, Springfield, Peoria, and Lake County. For more information, call 800-762-5960 or visit the web site at http://www.robertmorris.edu