NDSCS Culinary Arts students and faculty hosted the 3rd annual Scholarship Dinner on Thursday, March 9th. The annual Culinary Scholarship Dinner helps raise funds to support scholarship dollars for Culinary Arts students, increasing accessibility for students to attend this program at NDSCS. This dinner is also an excellent opportunity for students to help create and serve a multi-course fine dining experience for guests, teaching important on-the-job skills and benefiting their overall Culinary education. This year’s event brought in over $3500, which will be added to the growing program-specific endowments for student scholarships!

This 6-course dinner with wine pairings was prepared and served by culinary students, faculty, and program alumni. Chef Joseph Brunner, NDSCS alumnus and current Executive Chef at Mezzaluna in Fargo, created the entrée course for the scholarship dinner. Other guest chefs included Amber Pankonin from the Great Plains Culinary Institute; Brooke Thomas, NDSCS alumnus currently at Twin Town Villa; and Carly Beyer, NDSCS alumnus and Director of Dining Services at NDSCS.

Tickets were priced at $100 per person, and $80 of each ticket was a tax-deductible donation to the NDSCS Alumni Foundation Scholarship fund. Despite the less than ideal weather, the evening had a nearly full house. Guests enjoyed appetizers, soup, salad, fish, entrée, and dessert courses and wine pairings, along with great conversation and a relaxed atmosphere. After the event, Chef Kyle Armitage, the Culinary Arts program coordinator recalled, “The 2023 Scholarship Dinner was wonderful. This event is a great opportunity for our community, students, alumni, and friends to enjoy some great food and create a lasting impact on our future Culinary students.”

The Culinary Arts program would like to include a special thank you to donors to the event: The Boiler Room, Mezzaluna, Reinhart Foods, North Dakota Soy Bean Council, Martin Brothers Foods, and the NDSCS Alumni Foundation.