NEW ENGLAND (January 7, 2004) - In conjunction with the StarChefs Rising Stars Revue the New England Culinary Institute (NECI) is offering an unprecedented $80,000 in scholarships to incoming students who demonstrate their motivation to influence the future of food and become culinary stars. For the first time in their twenty-three year history, the acclaimed culinary school is offering a full-tuition two-year scholarship for an incoming first year student. In addition, five $8,000 Advanced Placement Scholarships will be awarded to aspiring chefs who have worked in the culinary field for a minimum of three years.

"NECI is excited about forming a partnership with StarChefs who shares our interest in having a positive impact on the growth and quality of the food and beverage industry," says Dawn Hayward, NECI’s Director of Admissions, “by getting applicants through the Rising Stars Revue we feel we’ll attract prospective students that have the potential to match the passion and enthusiasm for the food and beverage industry that the Rising Star Chefs themselves bring to the events.”

The Rising Stars Revue will travel to six cities where a host of chefs who have been named Rising Stars by the StarChefs’ editorial team will participate in a gala walk-around tasting featuring their signature dishes. In 2004 Revues will be held in 6 cities including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia. Aspen and Phoenix/Scottsdale.

The full-tuition scholarship is open to students from the Rising Stars Revue cities and the advanced placement scholarships are open to one student from each of the Revue cities.
Applicants must submit a 500 essay words that addresses how the candidate hopes to effect change in the industry once formal education and training are completed. The deadlines for applying to the Advanced Placement scholarships will be 30 days before the Revue in that city. The winner will be presented with the scholarship at the event. The deadline for applying for the full-tuition scholarship will be 60 days before the final Revue of 2004 and the scholarship will be presented to the winner at that event. For more information on the Rising Stars Revue and to download an application logon to www.starchefs.com/risingstars or contact Admissions at the New England Culinary Institute, toll free at 877-223-6324 or visit them on-line at www.neci.edu.

ABOUT NECI

New England Culinary Institute was founded in 1980 with a unique educational model featuring “learn-by-doing” training in real life situations. The Institute, which has grown to three campuses - two in Vermont and one at H. Lavity Stoutt Community College in Tortola, BVI - produces highly qualified chefs, managers, culinary professionals, and industry leaders. Recognized internationally for its innovative, immersion style of education, the Institute is known for their low student to teacher ratio, providing a personal and focused educational model. New England Culinary Institute offers an A.O.S. degree in Culinary Arts, an A.O.S. Degree in Food and Beverage Management, a Bachelor’s Degree in Food and Beverage Management, a Certificate in Basic Cooking and a host of non-professional cooking programs. Also known for its fine dining and catering, the school owns or operates twelve diverse food service outlets.

ABOUT STARCHEFS

StarChefs is both a backstage pass to the celebrity chef world for food-savvy consumers and an essential information resource for aspiring professional chefs. Launched in 1995, StarChefs.com has become the leading online destination for original, chef-focused culinary content, with 25,000 published pages and monthly traffic of over 14.6 million hits and its newsletter, the Dishrag, is delivered to 60,000 subscribers monthly. StarChefs JobFinder features cutting edge, interactive, classifieds technology. It is rapidly becoming the leading niche job board for the hospitality industry.

For more information, contact Will Blunt at (212) 966-5905