ACF Culinary Arts Competition
Welcome to the ACF Central Florida Chapter's 2026 Culinary Arts Competitions to be held at the Orange County Convention Center during the Florida Restaurant Show from October 25-27, 2026. This year the show is three days.
In the brand new Sunshine Plate Competition Arena, we will showcase both hot food and cold food competitions:
- Pastry Sculpture Competitions (Student and Professional) – Sunday, October 25
- Pork Challenge (Professional Hot Food Competition) – Sunday, October 25
- Seafood Challenge (Professional Hot Food Competition) – Monday, October 26
- Beef Challenge (Professional Hot Food Competition) – Tuesday, October 27
We need help with this year’s competitions, and we have three opportunities for you:
1) VOLUNTEER – Chapter members and Friends of the Chapter, please email Lynda about volunteering: centralfloridachefs021@gmail.com
2) FREE TICKETS – All ACF members and their guests can claim free passes to any day of the Florida Restaurant Show. Passes will be available at the show registration at the front of the event hall. NOTE: Free pass link will be posted here this summer.
3) COMPETE – Show us your competition skills. No fee to compete. You don’t have to be an ACF member to compete. This is an ACF Sanctioned event and spots are limited. Click here to enter to compete: https://forms.gle/eZLuBcC9yJgnZRJv7
And a very special thank you to our awesome judges for this year’s competitions:
- Reimund Pitz, CEC, CCE, AAC, HOF – Lead Judge
- Walter Zuromski, CEC, CCE
- Tim Recher, CEC, AAC