ACF Culinary Team USA Competition History

While many countries have a more static approach to menu development, American chefs have long provided a "melting pot" of creativity toward food. When Americans began competing as an official team in 1956, they were clearly the underdogs. However, American cookery soon established itself as world-class cuisine, and American chefs distinguished themselves at IKA and at other international competitions.

The 1960 team captured the first world championship honor for the US. ACF Culinary Team USA repeated the distinction in 1980, 1984 and 1988 by taking the prestigious hot food competition all three times and establishing a new world record for the most consecutive gold-medal wins. Their most recent IKA win came in 2004, when the team took home the gold medal in hot-food cooking, reestablishing ACF Culinary National Team USA as the leader in international cooking. Additionally, the team took home two gold medals at the Salon Culinaire Mondial in Basel, Switzerland, in 2005, which is held every six years.

Competition Results

ACF Culinary Regional Team USA Debuts Successfully at American Culinary Classic
ACF Culinary Team USA Places and Wins Gold at Culinary World Cup

Team Timeline

ACF Culinary Team USA has celebrated 52 years of competition history. Read highlights from throughout the years. More