The Road to Vegas
July 2, 2008
The 12 passenger Chevy Van will be driving from Delhi, NY to Las Vegas , Nevada for the competition. The van will take the equipment and supplies, as well as 3 student assistance. The students are Brandon Grady from Saratoga Springs, Joe Michaud from Saratoga Springs and Mike Desorcie from Corning . Brian Hutzley is the driver, tour guide and team cheerleader.
Monday July 7th 3:45 PM – Alumni Hall Boardroom. Teamwork, commitment, communication, dedication, professionalism
Tuesday July 8th – Checklist
- Petty Cash
- CADI Card
- Gas Card from UP
- Mapquest Directions
- Extra Key from Tom
- Lunch meat/snacks from CADI
- Video Camera from Clark SN
- Wireless broadband from CIS
- Yellow Tie
- Schedule and contacts from Roberta
Road Trip to WalMart
“There are only 5 people that can stop you from winning the gold….. They are all female and they are all sitting right here in the van”….
Wednesday July 9th
11:50 AM Adventure at Verizon
3:50 PM
On the Road. Packed to the top we are on the move
8:10
Pennsylvania Welcomes you
8:20 PM
Running on empty “E” . 320 miles 4 1/2 Hours. 12.6% there !!!
10 PM Cleveland
11:30 Toledo
Thursday July 10th
1:50 AM . 10 hours and 710 miles. 30 miles from the Illinois Border. Go Joe ! Goodnight Brian
7:50 AM 16 hours 1100 miles driven, Almost to Des Moines. $3.80 a gallon
11:10 am WE ARE 1/2 WAY 1,280 miles !!!
3:50 PM 24 Hours and 1622 Miles behind us! 150 miles to Denver. 95 degrees and running on “E”
Friday July 11
When did we start today? SLept in till 8:30. Yes we stopped at 3in the morning.
Is it Friday? WE ARE HERE. 9:50 PM EST .54 Hours in Total. This include 8 hours of the Road. 1 hour in Boulder (5 shot espresso at Starbucks) , 4 hours through a side tour of the Rockies, including touching snow and 8 hours at a hotel. 40 hours of rode time 2550 miles
Bangers and Mash
Saturday July 12
All feed and ready to go. A/C is not working in the van. It is only going to be 100 degrees today so we should be OK.
5:15 Team arrives in Las Vegas. 6:30 team arrives at MGM
Dinner at Hof Brau House
Lock on Chef Tom’s room does not work. 3 hours later they have fixed it.
Sunday July 13
Road Trip
- Whole Foods
- Legacy Ice Cream
- UNLV
Monday July 14
!st Day in the College of Southern Nevada kitchens
All the equipment is inventoried
No A/C in ALL DAY LONG. 95 degrees and 60% humidity. It is like driving in a rolling green sauna all day.
Williams- Sonoma
Tuesday July 15
Shopping and prepping
The orders and Fed-ex packages arrives at Dr. P’s sister
The Whole Foods store does not have cream, bread flour, peppers, scallions
Wednesday July 16
2:20 AM Mountain Standard Time , 5:20 AM in NY. Get up, get moving !!!
Team, Nick, Tom, Joe on the road to pack the food
Brian and assistance unload equipment
THE COMPETITION
7:35 AM Set-up station opens
8:05 AM Window opens. Good Luck !
11:25 AM plate 1st course
12:45 PM WINDOW CLOSES.
1:15 PM Clean and pack
“This competition will be won in the kitchen”
Tickets are bought for 3 out of the four teams. Windows are 5 minutes a part so a course is being served constantly. Brian eats all three meals, all 12 courses, the food is good
ACF STUDENT OF THE YEAR
1:30 PM Set-up station opens
2:00 PM Window opens
4:00 PM Plating
4:40 PM Clean and pack
God bless this team, coaches and assistants. Their endless efforts, commitment, teamwork and dedication to the College, team and each other has been proven 1000 times.
7:00 PM President’s Banquet and awards ceremony
- Central Region from Houston wins a low gold, SUNY Delhi wins a high silver.
- Student of the year goes to Southeast
Disappointment? Only for a moment. The team has come a long way. They have won the states and regionals and competed in the national against very large chapters including Houston and Atlanta. They had the best kitchen score, proving what we all knew, that they were an unbelievable team. The parents and families were equally amazing. Mothers, fathers, grandparents, aunts, uncles and sisters were there providing support from start to finish.
Thursday July 17
Donny and Marie start their show at the MGM
Team sleeps in, hangs lose and enjoys their time together. A side trip to Red Rock Canyon was enjoyed
Friday July 18 On the Road Again !
6:00 AM wake-up call. Not on the road till 7:30, they will pay for the delay !
3:00 PM 530 miles behind us, 300 miles to Denver , 2000 miles to Delhi
I am very proud of this team. Regardless of what happens in Vegas they have worked hard on representing the Region, the state and our town and school. They have dedicated themselves to this task fully and left nothing to chance and nothing taken for granted. They improved with every level of competition that they have been in and they are preparing real food for real customers. And doing it with a high level of skill.They are an amazing group of young women. You will see many great things from them as they move on to future careers and start to pursue their dreams. I have no doubt about it.
Tom Recinella
Glad to see your cellular modem is working.
Hey Drivers… Keep up the great work! I know it’s a heck of a drive – but what you’re doing is invaluable to the team! Thanks for your hard work and dedication to the cause! Looking forward to additional updates…
To the team… Best of luck with the competition! We will be anxiously awaiting updates from Chef Tom and JBF! Have some fun while you’re out there as well!
David Brower
Are you there yet?
I echo Tom’s feelings. I too am very proud regardless of what happens. The fact you are all there means you all are winners already. My advise is to stay in the moment and enjoy every minute of what will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Good luck.
MB
I am so proud of you Ladies!!!
I am enjoying the minute by minute updates!
Good Luck!!
Tom,
The restaurant that I was telling you about is:
Nora’s Cuisine
6020 W. Flamingo Rd.
702-873-8990
If you have a chance….I know you won’t be disappointed.
MB
Good Luck to the SUNY Delhi all female (woo hoo) cooking team! You give SUNY Delhi bragging rights! Everyone in the library is thinking of you and wishing you luck.
How did the competition go? Been think’in about you all and the excitement. Waiting patiently (or impatiently) for word of the results! I’m sure you are ALL exhausted! Go Team!
I just wanted to take a minute to reflect on the last 10 months, or that in which i can remember of it. It was an unbelievable feeling to be on a team, it made it extra special that it was all female. As we went along our journey to nationals it became something that was bigger than all of us, something that not even one of us would be able to understand the impact of, unless you think about those kind of things. I cherish the moment we won Regionals, it was one of the best times of my life. I’ve never had that kind of emotion take me over like that. I must say that Nationals was also one of the best times of my life, regardless of the results we endured. Of course we wanted the results to be better, but we owned that whole experience. Without a coach like Tom Recinella we couldn’t have been that successful at all. I am very proud to say I captained the 2008 Hot Food Team and I would never give that experience up. I love my girls and we have an understanding of what happened, but I feel it will make us better as we move along throughout life. I want to also thank the helpers and Mr. Hutzley, you guys are amazing and you don’t realize how much the extra sets of hands really does help. I think the best part was when we turned into the college and you guys were already there! Mrs. Backus-Foster was such a great assistant coach to have because she was there and understood our feelings and she has become a great mentor. I also want to thank all the family that came to support us, once again im pretty sure Delhi had the biggest crowd… at least that’s all that mattered to me. Thank you also to everyone who came for the lunches, it’s a great way to help the team on it’s journey, so thank you.