  Denver Campus Chef Instructor, Mark DeNittis, Chef DeNittis to go to NYC at the end of April to vie for All Artisanal Award DENVER – April 8, 2008 – Johnson & Wales University chef instructor won big after entering a new product titled Pacific Rim Sea Salt and Citrus Duck Breast Prosciuttini for the 2008 Gallo Family Vineyards Gold Medal Awards competition. The Gallo family created the awards program in 2006 to recognize excellence in culinary craftsmanship and give back to the artisanal food community by aiming to further their businesses. This is the third year of the Gold Medal Awards marking Chef Mark DeNittis’ first entry. He entered his cured duck product into the Outstanding Meat and Charcuterie category, one of eight designed to showcase the hard work, dedication to high standards of quality and commitment to sustainability of artisanal food producers from across the United States. Chef DeNittis won a $5,000 business development grant from the Gallo Family Vineyards, an annual membership to the Chefs Collaborative and the Gallo Family Vineyards Gold Medal Awards Seal of Excellence to display on his winning product. Along with six other category winners, Chef DeNittis also won a trip to New York City to attend a celebratory luncheon in the winners' honor, hosted by third-generation winemaker Gina Gallo, on April 30, 2008. He will represent his business, Rocky Mountain Trade Enterprises, and Johnson & Wales University to see if he wins the flagship honor called the "All Artisanal Award," which is presented to the family-owned business that best embodies exceptional artisanal food production and stands as a role model and inspiration for other food industry professionals. The winner of the "All Artisanal Award" will receive a trip to the Food and Wine Classic in Aspen in June 2008 to showcase their winning product, along with a national ad for the product in a top culinary publication. Chef DeNittis was also nationally recognized as one of ten rising stars in the meat processing industry under the age of 40 last year by Meat Processing News. For more information on the Gallo Family Vineyards Gold Medal Awards, please visit their website. Johnson & Wales University, founded in 1914, is a nonprofit, private institution. A recognized leader in career education, we offer accredited degrees in business, hospitality, culinary arts, technology and education. With a diverse student body of more than 16,000 graduate and undergraduate students, representing all 50 states and 89 countries, JWU prepares students for personal and professional success by integrating rigorous academics and professional skills, community leadership opportunities and our unique career education model. The university is committed to urban revitalization and thoughtful historic renovation. Through active civic participation and by offering unique learning opportunities, JWU improves the quality of life in its campus communities in Providence, R.I., North Miami, Fla., Denver, Colo., and Charlotte, N.C. For more information visit www.jwu.edu.
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