A UB team of chefs took the bronze medal in the team competition at the 30th annual Chef Culinary Conference, held earlier this month at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

The UB team — chef managers Brendan Schultz, Kenneth Fronczek, Emanuel Pryce and Ryan Rodenhaus — was among 13 from across the nation that developed a menu and produced a three-course hot meal from a mystery basket.

The teams had an hour to submit a menu and three hours to cook the meal. The UB team’s menu:

• First course: hanger steak and mushroom soup.
• Second course: pan-seared steelhead trout with pomegranate beurre blanc, tiara rice and broccoli.
• Third course: honey-mango polenta cake.

“I couldn’t be prouder of the way the team worked seamlessly together,” said Executive Chef Amelia Ruiz, who led the Campus Dining and Shops delegation to the conference that also included Mackenzie McGill, residential dining general manager, and Nicole Dell, director of operations. “Our chefs really showcased their talents, which makes me and our entire staff super excited for the future of UB dining.”

Hosted annually by UMass Dining, the Chef Culinary Conference provides the college and university campus dining community, and business partners, with industry-expert talks, culinary demonstrations, live workshops and exclusive sneak peeks, in addition to the team competition, which is sanctioned by the American Culinary Federation.