St. Augustine, Fla., March 26, 2013 — James Connolly, CEC, CCA, AAC, of Nashua, divisional director of culinary services, Atria Senior Living, New England, was recently honored by the American Culinary Federation (ACF) with the Dr. L.J. Minor Chef Professionalism Award for the ACF Northeast Region.
Connelly received the award, sponsored by MINOR’S, during the Chef Professionalism Lunch at the 2013 ACF Northeast Regional Conference, held at the Turning Stone Resort Casino, Verona, N.Y., March 17-20.
The ACF Dr. L.J. Minor Chef Professionalism Award, established in 1990 and named for Dr. Lewis J. Minor, food scientist and founder of MINOR’S, is presented to a chef who exemplifies the highest standards of professionalism through certification, continuing education and training, culinary competitions and community involvement. As this year’s ACF Northeast Region recipient, Connolly is a candidate to receive the national award at the ACF National Convention in Las Vegas, July 21-25.
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"I am both honored and humbled to be added to the ranks of ACF chefs that are recognized as leaders and mentors in this great profession,” said Connolly. “I believe that young culinarians are the future of ACF. The continued focus on growing membership, education, certification and professional development will strengthen this great federation."
Connolly, an ACF-Certified Executive Chef® (CEC®) for 22 years, has worked for Atria Senior Living, based in Louisville, Ky., since 2008. With an associate degree in culinary arts from Essex Technical Institute, Hawthorne, Mass., he has more than 35 years of experience in the culinary industry.
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His experience includes executive chef for Skyview Cafe and Brewery, Nashua; Not Your Average Joe’s, Methuen, Mass.; and senior executive chef of national accounts for Sodexo, based in Gaithersburg, Md. He serves on advisory committees for Shawsheen Valley Tech High School, Billerica, Mass., and Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Boston, Cambridge, Mass. He is the certification chair for ACF Epicurean Club of Boston and facilitated the chapter’s first certification test, Sept. 2012. He received the ACF Northeast Region Cutting Edge Award in 2011, and the ACF Epicurean Club of Boston Chef of the Year award in 2012. Connelly was inducted into the American Academy of Chefs®, an honor society for chefs, July 2012.
The 2013 ACF Northeast Regional Conference, hosted by ACF Syracuse New York Chapter, brought more than 450 chefs, cooks and foodservice professionals to Verona. The conference provided attendees with opportunities to advance their professional development and enhance their culinary skills through business seminars, cooking demonstrations featuring the latest trends and techniques, cooking competitions and awards.
National and regional sponsors of the 2013 ACF events series are: Alabama Gulf Seafood; Allen Brothers; American Lamb Board; American Roland Food Corporation; American Technical Publishers; Barry Callebaut; The Beef Checkoff; BelGioioso Cheese, Inc.; California Avocado Commission; Campbell Soup Company; Canada Cutlery Inc.; Central Region State Beef Councils; Clemens Food Group; Custom Culinary, Inc.; Ecolab®; Gerharz Restaurant Equipment, Inc.; Gordon Food Service®; Idaho® Potato Commission; Idaho Preferred®; Irinox USA; Jim Beam American Stillhouse; Jones Dairy Farm; Johnson & Wales University; JTM Food Group; Kentucky Beef Council; Lactalis Foodservice; Maines Paper & Food Service, Inc.; McCormick For Chefs; MINOR’S®; Mississippi Beef Council; Mississippi Seafood Marketing; NEWCHEF Fashion Inc.; North Carolina Beef Council; Plugrá® European-Style Butter; PreGel AMERICA; R.L. Schreiber, Inc.; RC Fine Foods; Riviana® Foods; S&D Coffee; Sysco®; Tennessee Beef Industry Council; Tyson Food Service; Unilever Food Solutions; Victorinox Swiss Army, Inc.; Villeroy & Boch; Virginia Beef Industry Council; Vitamix® Corporation; Winston Industries, LLC; and Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board.
The American Culinary Federation, Inc. (ACF), established in 1929, is the premier professional organization for culinarians in North America. With more than 20,000 members spanning 200 chapters nationwide, ACF is the culinary leader in offering educational resources, training, apprenticeship and programmatic accreditation. In addition, ACF operates the most comprehensive certification program for chefs in the United States, with the Certified Executive Chef®, Certified Sous Chef® and Certified Executive Pasty Chef® designations the only culinary credentials accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies. ACF is home to ACF Culinary Team USA, the official representative for the United States in major international culinary competitions, and to the Chef & Child Foundation, founded in 1989 to promote proper nutrition in children and to combat childhood obesity. For more information, visit www.acfchefs.org. Find ACF on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ACFChefs and on Twitter @ACFChefs.
