St. Louis chefs readying to compete in 'culinary olympics'

ST. LOUIS -- Like many Olympians, St. Louisans Mike Bush, J.T. Gelineau, Mike Palazzola, Wayne Sieve and Kevin Taylor are up before dawn practicing their routines.

In their case, however, the workout room is the kitchen. And their version of a perfect 10 involves not just presentation, execution and flavor of the food they're preparing, but also virtually every action they take from the moment they step into the kitchen.

"They get judged on everything, from using the right tools for the right product, to sanitation, to making sure everything gets done exactly when it should," said Kevin Storm of Bellerive Country Club, one of the executive chefs who coach the team.

The team, sponsored by the local chapter of the American Culinary Foundation, first came together through local tryouts. It then won state and regional competitions to become one of five finalists at the ACF National Convention in July in Orlando, Fla. By winning that event, it became ACF Culinary Youth Team USA. Members cannot be older than 23.

Dish testing

The members travel in October 2008 to Germany to represent the United States at the International Culinary Art Competition also known as the "culinary olympics."

A practice recently at Old Warson Country Club in Ladue was the first time the team tested potential dishes for the olympic competition. By 6 a.m., they were making rack of lamb with a shepherd's pie potato charlotte and venison en croute with a gratin of potatoes and sweet potatoes and a pear-parsnip pure. By 8:30, they'd plated and evaluated those dishes and moved on to practice for a "salon," in which four members each prepare one course within 30 minutes. (The fifth team member is an alternate.)

Before noon, they were back at their regular jobs.

The men's crisp chef's-whites uniforms and brisk demeanor belie the fact that all of them worked those jobs in private-club kitchens until late the previous evening, then spent even more time doing prep work on food for the morning's practice.

As with any professional kitchen, each person on the team has specific responsibilities, which blend in a well-orchestrated choreography as they prepare the full meals. When the action turns to individual course preparation, the other four team members line the opposite side of the prep station, notebooks in hand.

Coaching in the kitchen

Storm and the other coaches -- who on this day included chef Aidan Murphy of Old Warson and chef Paul Kampff of St. Louis Country Club -- stand removed from the action, sometimes praising, sometimes criticizing bluntly. Kampff was the note-taker, keeping a long list of suggestions, such as "don't sear venison."

The coaches' voices, however, remain calm and steady, unlike the reality-TV stereotype of bombastic chefs.

"Here, we try to keep things as light as we can," Kampff said. "For these kids, this is already very, very intense without any help from us."

The team practices once or twice a week on its own and about once a week with coaches. By midwinter, when the clubs' dining-room business slows, the team will practice three or four times a week. It'll also be joined more regularly by the official team manager, chef Steven Jilleba of Unilever Food Solutions in Chicago.

Throughout the process, the five chefs experiment, refine and add to and subtract from their menus for each of the required events, which also include preparation of a cold plate. The coaches contribute, but they emphasize that many decisions are left to the team members.

"It's really important for them to have a strong sense of ownership," Murphy said.

The American Culinary Foundation's local chapter, one of the oldest in the country, relies on fundraising events and corporate donations to pay for the team's expenses. "It will probably be about $75,000 now until Germany," Murphy said.

Over and above the recognition for representing the United States, the team members believe they're accelerating their careers in exchange for the long hours of practice.

"We're getting so much knowledge out of this," Bush said. "I think we're way ahead of others in the field."

Murphy agrees. "For a fellow recent student who doesn't get this experience, it'll take him six years to get what these guys get in one," he said.

And if they happen to win it all? "There's no monetary prize, but they'd be catapulted into a whole different category," said Kampff. "It would do amazing things for their careers."