The National Association of College and University Food Services (NACUFS) brought a sizzling competition to the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center on Tuesday March 18th.

For their 2025 Spring conference NACUFS decided to turn up the heat with a live competition where top collegiate chef had the chance to showcase their skills to judges from the American Culinary Federation.

“They have to make their best entree in one hour. They have five minutes to set up and five minutes to clean up,” said National President of the American Culinary Federation and lead judge Rene Marquis. “The ingredients for this year’s challenge were whole chickens and chicken livers. So, they have to utilize those, and they have to be the star of the show.”

Competitors start out with 100 points and are tasked with keeping those points as the judges watch them work.

“Safety, sanitation, knife cuts, flavor profiles, mouth feel, all of the things that go into the cooking, and how they choreograph and work within their station all contribute to that,” said Travis Johnson co-chair of the continental division. “At the end of the day we’ll total up the points and we’ll have people walk away with gold medals and silver medals and the highest score will then go on to nationals to represent their school and their region at the national title.”

Winners won’t be announced until Wednesday March 19th.