Southold Teen Danny Insogna Wins Culinary Competition

Watch out East End chefs, because this local teen has aspirations of becoming a culinary great and the chops to get there.

Danny Insogna, who is a Southold High School senior and a student of Southold High School in Riverhead, took first place SYSCO Long Island High School Culinary Arts Competition on Tuesday.

Insogna bested 12 other competitors from Suffolk and Nassau high schools who gathered at Suffolk County Community College’s Culinary Arts Center in Riverhead.

Each student had one-and-a-half hours to create two identical plates from a mystery basket of ingredients. With no prior notice, they were presented with bone-in chicken, sweet potatoes, green squash and sundried tomatoes. Insogna whipped together pan-roasted chicken with a mushroom cream sauce, sautéed vegetables and zucchini,  and a sweet potato puree.

The first place trophy came with a $4,000 Sysco sponsored scholarship to Suffolk County Community College’s culinary arts program.

The judges included Sysco Long Island corporate chef Tom Mulzoff, Hyatt Regency Hotel executive chef Ralph Delustro, Jerry and the Mermaid chef-owner Jerry Dicecco, Atlantis and the Hyatt Hotel executive chef Sean Fountaine, ACFELI President and Suffolk County Community College instructor Larry Weiss, SCCC instructor Andrea Glick and St. Charles Healthcare executive chef Bill Dougherty.