Chef Elderoy Arendse shares his culinary creations at the Celebrity Chef Invitational 2010

 

The 18th Annual Celebrity Chef Invitational will highlight the culinary creations of South Africa-born Chef Elderoy Arendse, executive chef of Fraîche in Culver City, California. The by-invitation-only event will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 15 in the Lucy Cuddy Hall on UAA's campus.

 

The Celebrity Chef Invitational will feature a five-course extravaganza prepared by Chef Arendse, who will be assisted by five of Anchorage's most respected and prominent chefs: Gary Murphy, Hotel Captain Cook; Mandy Dixon, Within the Wild; Nate Green, Kincaid Grill; Tanya Newall, Sweet Basil Café; and Scott Evers, NANA Management. Each team will be led by an Anchorage chef and made up of groups of UAA's talented Culinary Arts and Hospitality/Dietetics and Nutrition students.

 

The black tie event is a fundraiser to support the UAA Culinary Arts and Hospitality Program General Support Fund, which provides student scholarship opportunities and maintenance of state-of-the-art learning facilities.

 

Chef Arendse was born in Cape Town, South Africa and moved to New York City after high school. While studying business at a community college, Arendse worked as a bus boy in a restaurant to pay for tuition. He quickly realized that working in the kitchen was his calling, and was promoted to a prep cook. For the next nine years, he worked in various restaurants in New York City before moving to Los Angeles to work with mentors Gino Angelini and Jason Travi. He eventually became sous chef of Travi's restaurant, Fraîche, and stepped in as executive chef when the opportunity presented itself.

 

For more information about Fraîche, visit www.fraicherestaurantla.com. For more information about UAA's Culinary Arts and Hospitality/Dietetics and Nutrition programs, visit www.uaa.alaska.edu/ctc/programs/culinary.