Culinary arts students in Marion County will receive a special visit from four nationally-known celebrity chefs on Friday, November 3 as part of a local food festival.
The celebrity chefs will visit middle and high school culinary arts classrooms to interact with students and share their experiences. This year’s celebrity chef lineup includes:
Lorena Garcia, a native Venezuelan and Latin flavor specialist whose appearances on “Top Chef Masters” and “America’s Next Great Restaurant” put her in the international culinary spotlight. Her global take on Latin cuisine fuses classic technique with Latin ingredients.
Timothy Hollingsworth, a Los Angeles-based chef and restaurateur who spent 13 years at the critically-acclaimed and three-Michelin-star-rated restaurant The French Laundry. His contemporary restaurant Otium is a globally-inspired west coast hotspot that serves eclectic and vibrant flavors inspired by wood fire.
Rashad Jones, a Marion County Public Schools graduate and national award-winning pitmaster who calls Ocala home and operates Big Lee’s BBQ. Jones is host of the hit Food Network show “Eat, Sleep, BBQ,” and he defeated Bobby Flay in a Food Network wing cook-off earlier this year. He also earned the title of “barbecue king” with first-place finishes in season three of the Food Network series “BBQ Brawl” and “Guy’s Big Project.”
Yohann Le Bescond, a pastry chef who leads the pastry program at the World Equestrian Center. He was a finalist on the Food Network’s “Summer Baking Championship” program, and Restaurant Hospitality recently named him to its 2023 Power List of notable chefs around the world.
On Friday, the four celebrity chefs will visit middle and high school culinary classrooms on the following schedule:
- Celebrity chef Lorena Garcia
- Lake Weir High School (10351 SE Maricamp Road in Ocala) from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.
- Marion Technical College on the Marion Technical Institute campus (1614 E Fort King Street in Ocala) from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Celebrity chef Timothy Hollingsworth
- Osceola Middle School (526 SE Tuscawilla Avenue in Ocala) from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.
- Forest High School (5000 SE Maricamp Road in Ocala) from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Celebrity chef Rashad Jones
- Belleview Middle School (10500 SE 36th Avenue in Belleview) from 9:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.
- Belleview High School (10400 SE 36th Avenue in Belleview) from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Celebrity chef Yohann Le Bescond
- Dunnellon Middle School (21005 Chestnut Street in Dunnellon) from 9:20 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
- Dunnellon High School (10055 SW 180th Avenue Road in Dunnellon) from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
These visits from the celebrity chefs will bring real-life experiences and face-to-face interactions to the hundreds of Marion County students who are involved in the Culinary Arts programs.
In Marion County, culinary programs are offered through the MCPS Career and Technical Education Department.
For more information on the culinary celebration, visit the Ocala Food & Wine Festival and World Equestrian Center websites.