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Wake Tech cooks up Olympic-level talent.
As athletes around the globe train for the 2028 Summer Olympics in LA, a different kind of elite team is sharpening its skills—knives included. The American Culinary Federation Culinary Team USA is already hard at work prepping for the 2028 Culinary Olympics in Stuttgart—and right here in Raleigh, Wake Tech is playing a key role in the effort.
Beyond opening its kitchens to ACF Culinary Team USA for practice sessions and public tasting dinners, Wake Tech is also proudly sending two of its own pastry chefs to compete on the world stage.
Chef-instructors Eric Stopka and Josephine Herbert have been tapped to rep Team USA, which Department Head and lead baking instructor Caralyn House chalks up to WTCC’s standout baking program and its semiannual ACF-sanctioned pastry competition.
“We’ve got one of the stronger pastry programs in the country,” says Herbert, “and we always bring in three judges who are certified by the ACF”—many of whom also coach Team USA. The pair’s selection was cemented at the most recent competition, when the team’s coaches took notice. And, now, what started as a local rivalry in the kitchen could become a global win.
Last year’s Culinary Olympics boasted 1,200 chefs from 55 countries, with only the creme de la creme landing a spot on the podium. To prep, Team USA training kicked off this spring, with chefs crafting a monthly three-course meal at host sites across the country—including Wake Tech.
“The presence of the USA culinary Olympic team in our community is a testament to the strength of our local food and restaurant scene,” emphasizes Wake Tech President Scott Ralls, “and the unique role played by Wake Tech as our region’s ‘culinary college’—growing the regional culinary, baking and pastry, and hospitality management talent pool.”
Olympians in the kitchen? Impeccable precision, endurance and drive are all part of the recipe—and come 2028, Wake Tech just may be bringing home the gold. wtccbaking.squarespace.com/team-usa
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