Bon Appétit Management Company

The community of Lesley University in Cambridge, MA, is a competitive one. For the campus’s second Chopped! competition, contestants had to create a meal in only 30 minutes from a basket of surprise ingredients — with a sustainable twist: they were mostly local.

Bon Appétit at Goucher College kicked off November with a new tradition for the campus: Iron Chef, college style. Representatives from each of the four classes—freshmen through seniors—were tasked with creating a delicious meal in a limited time frame not only for a panel of discerning judges, but for the entire café… during the dinner rush. That meant cooking not just for three or four, but for hundreds. Adding a whole new element to the competition, this certainly left the student competitors an appreciation of what kitchen staffs in college dining halls do three times a day, every day!

Teams of highly trained, ultra-competitive Bon Appétit chefs have been making their way around the Eastern Seaboard competing in elite contests modeled after Chopped!, the hit Food Network television show. Chefs compete to create culinary masterpieces from a box of mystery ingredients in a short amount of time. Each ingredient in the box must be incorporated into the dish for that round, and given the often random combinations of items, that’s often no easy task! The “steaks” are so high, only the brave need apply.