ACC students Mark Cornish (front row, right) and Sara Karrow (back row, second from right) assisted Chef Simone De Castro (back row, center) at a New York City event.

Two ACC Culinary Arts students recently had the opportunity to work with a renowned pastry chef at an event for the James Beard Foundation (JBF) in New York City.

JBF is a nonprofit organization that celebrates and preserves America’s culinary heritage and future. It often invites chefs to the Beard House to cook for Foundation members and the public.

The two ACC students, Mark Cornish and Sara Karrow, were invited to assist pastry chef Simone De Castro at a lunch and dinner at the Beard House in October. De Castro met Cornish and Karrow when they studied at Italy’s Florence University of the Arts as part of an ACC study abroad trip.

“(Working with De Castro) was a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Cornish says. “I learned so much from him and from the other chefs at the Beard House.”

In preparation for the JBF event, Cornish spent three weeks in Florence working with De Castro. Karrow joined them in New York for a week before the event.

“James Beard Foundation events are a big thing in the culinary field, and it’s a great honor for our students to be invited to participate,” says Chef Stephanie Herrington, department chair of Culinary Arts.