By Morgan Pilz, Staff Writer

(Feb. 14, 2019) To promote food as a form of art, the Worcester County Art Council and the Delmarva Chefs and Cooks Association have teamed up to form the inaugural Art of the pARTy event, held Friday, Feb. 22, at the Atlantic Hotel in Berlin from 6-9 p.m.

Guests are invited to a business-casual event to sample an assortment of flavors from Worcester Technical High School’s Culinary Program as well as four other high school culinary programs from Somerset, Wicomico, Worcester and Dorchester counties as well as Wor-Wic Community College.

“As chefs, we always think of food and pastry as art,” Phil Cropper, chapter president for the Delmarva Chefs and Cooks Association and culinary instructor at Worcester Technical High School, said. “We started talking to the Worcester County Arts Council about how we could feature food. “They said, ‘Well, we’ve never thought of it as art but it makes sense.’ So the Worcester County Arts Council decided to add it as a medium for their scholarship application.”

Most arts scholarships in the area do not adequately present cuisine as a form of art, Cropper said.

“When you look in the area scholarships and different places for food other than restaurants, you don’t really see intricately-displayed food,” Cropper said.

Thirteen stations will be set up featuring food from American Culinary Federation-certified restaurants. Established in 1929, American Culinary Federation is the premier professional chefs’ organization in North America with more than 17,500 members in over 150 chapters nationwide.

American Culinary Federation-certified restaurant slated to participate in the event include Centerplate of the convention center on 40th Street, Marlin Moon on 33rd Street, Coastal Coffee Roasting in West Ocean City, and Nori on 115th Street.

“We’re trying to make it a fun event on a Friday evening after work,” Cropper said. “We’re going to have all of the stations set up for people to come in and mingle, network, enjoy food from different restaurants and then enjoy food from the different schools that they really wouldn’t have access to otherwise.”

Guests will be able to participate in a raffle for a painting donated by a local artist with their ticket purchase.

Tickets are available online for $45 on Eventbrite or www.Delmarvachefs.com. Only 100 tickets will be sold. For more information, visit www.Delmarvachefs.com.