SUBMITTED NEWS RELEASE
Justin Bart, the executive chef at Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno, was named Chef-of-the-Year by the High Sierra Chefs Association, Inc. (ACFHSCA), the northern Nevada chapter of the American Culinary Federation.
A fourth generation Nevadan, Bart has been in the food service industry since he was 17. He joined the Renown culinary staff in 2002 and currently oversees the daily operation and production of 2200 meals. Prior to his position at Renown, Bart was a dietary services manager at HCR Manor Care and Life Care of Reno. He currently serves as the vice president of the ACFHSCA and has been active in numerous community service projects as a chef professional.
The Pastry Chef-of-the-Year is Don Holtzer, owner of Franz’s Bakestube located at Mayberry Landing in Reno. Holtzer was raised in Reno. His career started as an apprentice under Josef Pasa and Franz Hauser at the MGM Grand (now Grand Sierra Resort), and he worked at the Mapes Hotel. He has had executive pastry positions in Kansas City, Chicago, Las Vegas, New York’s Marriott Marquis, Phoenix and Washington D.C., where he worked on three Presidential Inauguration parties (he had a shot at the White House Pastry chefs but passed). He’s appeared on The Food Network and has cooked at The James Beard House. He’s won numerous culinary metals and received international recognition from France. Bon Appetite magazine named him one of the 30 most influential pastry chefs in America.
The Student Member-of-the-Year was William Hoyt Scharff IV, a senior In the Culinary Arts program at the Academy of Arts, Careers & Technology (AACT), the vocational school program of the Washoe County Public School System. He plans on attending Johnson and Wales University in Providence, R.I., next fall to further his culinary education.
This year’s Presidential Awards Dinner was hosted by the Steakhouse in the Atlantis Casino. All nominations and awards are determined by a vote of the membership.
The American Culinary Federation (ACF) is “the authority on food in America,” founded in 1929. The High Sierra Chefs Association, Inc., the local chapter of the ACF, was founded in 1977 in Reno and a has a roster of 245 culinary professionals, students, educators, and industry associates throughout northern Nevada and northern California.
