Annual C-CAP gala nets more than $350k in scholarship funds

Nation's Restaurant News, March 17, 2003 by Milford Prewitt

NEW YORK -- Chef Daniel Boulud, revered by many throughout the industry, and Joshua Partlow, an unknown chef who aspires to follow in Boulud's path, were the honorees at Careers Through Culinary Arts Programs' fifth annual scholarships gala here recently.

In the 13 years since C-CAP's president, Richard Grausman, founded the organization, more than 75,000 young people -- often disadvantaged -- have landed foodservice jobs.

Some 36 prominent chefs and 50 current C-CAP students in high school or college fed the event's attendees at Chelsea Piers, raising more than $350,000 in scholarship money for young people aspiring to restaurant careers.

The gala was hosted for the fifth time by NBC's "Today" show weatherman, Al Roker, but the evening's spotlight belonged to Partlow, 24, a C-CAP student since his junior-high-school days in a tough Chicago neighborhood. He recently graduated from Johnson & Wales University and won a full scholarship to pursue a master's degree in global business at the school.

"This kid is a ball of energy and raw talent," Roker said.

Boulud, proprietor of the four-star Restaurant Daniel, was honored for his mentoring and longtime support of C-CAP.