Posted on the Citizens-Times website on May 15, 2025
ASHEVILLE - After winning state and regional rounds, Asheville culinary students are fired up to prove their skills in prestigious national competitions.
The work didn’t end at graduation day for T.C. Roberson High School senior Nathan Tucker, who won first place in the SkillsUSA North Carolina Championships in Greensboro in April and is training to compete in the National SkillsUSA Championships in Atlanta in June.
Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College’s 2025 Culinary Arts and Hospitality student culinary team members Ezrah Hanson (captain), Martin Deyman, Josh Jimison, Jack Ramsey and Carolina Salas placed first in the Southeast Regional American Culinary Federation competition in Myrtle Beach, Florida. In July, they will defend the school’s title in the ACF National Championship.
The chefs-in-training are set up for promising culinary careers, and the competition circuit and their educational support teams are preparing them for whatever comes next.
T.C. Roberson High School Senior Cinches The Win
First-time culinary competitor Nathan Tucker competed against 14 fellow students from across the state in the SkillsUSA North Carolina Championships, winning the high school division.
He is the first from T.C. Roberson to enter the competition.
Tucker, an Asheville resident, began cooking at age 10, learning from his mother and grandmother. He is also interested in the science of cooking.
“It’s satisfying,” Tucker said. “You put a lot of effort into it, and it makes people happy. … You worked hard for it, and it fulfills them.”
Tucker has interned in professional kitchens for nearly two years, earning school credits after completing a food and nutrition course at Roberson. During his senior year, Tucker worked at downtown’s Ukiah Japanese Smokehouse and The Blackbird Restaurant and continues to work under industry mentors.
On his days off, he returns to The Blackbird to train for the nationals, focusing on techniques like knife skills and desserts.
“He’s had an amazing internship experience being able to look at different parts of the restaurant business and hospitality and learn from people who are living that life," said Roberson's Career Development Coordinator, Amy White, who assisted Tucker with internship placement and competition enrollment.
For the regionals, Tucker prepared a turmeric couscous salad using an airline chicken breast (which he butchered and judges scored), mushrooms, green beans, and a beurre blanc sauce.
"During the whole time waiting for them to announce first place, my heart was beating out of my chest," Tucker said. "Then, they announced it ― I was very excited."
Tucker earned a medal and a plaque, the latter displayed in Roberson's trophy case. The national gold prize he's vying for includes a scholarship and a place in the world competition, representing the U.S. in France.
Tucker said A-B Tech’s culinary and hospitality program’s hot food competitive team motivated him to compete at the high school level, and that he was considering enrolling in the collegiate program. He earned his ServSafe certification through A-B Tech.
He plans to continue working in local fine-dining restaurants to train and absorb knowledge, and aspires to open a restaurant in the future.
A-B Tech's Culinary Team Coming In Hot
A-B Tech’s hot food team has won the ACF Regionals 16 times and, last year, the ACF National Championship for the second time, the first time in 2007.
This year’s teammates, Ezrah Hanson (captain), Martin Deyman, Josh Jimison, Jack Ramsey, and Carolina Salas, will defend the national title, once again under the leadership of team coach and culinary department instructor, Chris Bugher, a certified executive chef.
Biltmore Estate is the team’s sponsor.
Carolina Salas, an Asheville resident and first-year student of the two-year culinary program, auditioned for the team in the first weeks of the semester, tasked with displaying knife skills, preparing a chicken breast to the cooks’ preferences, and baking a pie crust.
Salas works in administration for her family’s business. Cooking began as a hobby, but as she advanced with the program, she aspired to pursue a culinary career and one day open a restaurant.
She said she was nervous about competing in the regionals because it was something new and different from anything she’d done before, but she gained confidence as her training persisted.
A-B Tech's students had to play catch-up after Tropical Storm Helene delayed classes and practices when the college was closed for several weeks last fall, but Bugher assured them they would be ready.
“Everyone here, staff and students, are so supporting, so within a few months it just felt right,” Salas. “In talking to Chef Bugher, when we had our last practice before the competition, he was like, ‘You guys are ready. If you do this, what you did right now, you’re going to win.’”
At the ACF regional competition, the team was required to prepare a four-course menu served in four portions for judges, showing off their advanced cooking skills, technique, and style. They were scored on factors like sanitation, meat fabrication, presentation, and, of course, taste.
One of the winning regional competition dishes was a sautéed Cornish game hen with herb glaze, glazed sweet potato tourné, sausage-stuffed okra, sweet potato bacon jam, and fingerling potato gaufrette.
A-B Tech's team earned the highest score out of 100, earning a silver medal.
Bugher said the team's biggest strength was teamwork, and they didn't falter at any challenge that came their way.
"This team came together and meshed well right away," Bugher said. "I felt they were prepared going in and were not concerned. The regionals are a tough competition, but we've won several times and knew through seeing this practice they had what it took to win."
Salas said the classes and competition taught her organizational and other skills that have prepared her for her second year of the program that begins this fall, and that will be essential for her profession after graduation.
“It’s nice to see where we started and everything that we’ve done,” Salas said.