By Morgan Pilz, Staff Writer

(Feb. 13, 2020) A limited number of tickets are available for the second annual Art of the pARTy on Friday, Feb. 21, at the Atlantic Hotel in Berlin from 6-8 p.m.

Ticketholders will have the opportunity to sample the cooking of students at Worcester Technical High School’s Culinary Program during the fundraising event for culinary-related scholarships. Several restaurants and organizations, as well as high school culinary programs from Wicomico, Worcester and Dorchester counties, and Wor-Wic Community College will be participating.

The second annual fundraiser will be used for culinary scholarships and other food related programs.

To promote food as a form of art, the Worcester County Arts Council and the Delmarva Chefs and Cooks Association created a scholarship for students of creative cuisine last year, and netted more than $3,800 through their first food sampling party.

“We decided to bring it back this year and we’re hoping to hit the $4,500 mark and just kind of keep growing from there,” said Phil Cropper, president for the Delmarva Chefs and Cooks Association and culinary instructor at Worcester Technical High School. “Our feedback was great. We’re just excited to keep building on it, making it bigger and better every year.”

This year’s event will have live jazz and will be one hour shorter to avoid dragging out the event. There will also be ice carving, a 50/50 and art raffle.

Guests at the event will find 12 stations featuring food from American Culinary Federation-certified restaurants. Established in 1929, the American Culinary Federation is the premier professional chefs’ organization in North America with more than 17,500 members and more than 150 chapters nationwide.

The American Culinary Federation is what makes someone a certified executive chef or a pastry chef or a culinary educator, Cropper said.

Students from Worcester Technical High School, Wor-Wic Community College and Somerset Culinary will prepare food onsite.

American Culinary Federation-certified restaurants and organizations slated to participate in the event are Centerplate of the convention center on 40th Street, Marlin Moon on 33rd Street, Box Car 40 of Pittsville, Baked Desserts in Berlin, Coastal Coffee Roasting in West Ocean City, Princess Royale on 91st Street, Coastal Cupcake in Berlin, Washington Catering of Snow Hill and the Handy Seafood Company in Salisbury.

“It’s a great community event and it’s great to see students in action as well as all your favorite restaurants in one spot,” Cropper said. “All the proceeds from the party go directly back to the community in the form of culinary literacy and scholarship.”

The money raised from last year’s party will be used for scholarships this year, since the inaugural fundraising event took place after the scholarship deadline. Additional money raised this year could be used to help members of the chefs association continue their education by sending them to conferences and conventions.

Some of the meals guests can taste will be dry rubbed brisket of beef with roasted red pepper and tomato chili sauce, roasted pork, gourmet deviled eggs and candied bacon, artisan cheese, sautéed blackened shrimp over three cheese grits, and shrimp wrapped with shredded phyllo dough and coated with a Thai sweet chili sauce. Desserts, of course, will follow.

Cropper hopes to move the event into a larger space in the future, to allow for more tickets to be sold, as the Atlantic Hotel ballroom can only hold so many people.

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