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In June, UWP Executive Chef Steve Monteferrante (right) vied against other chefs at the 10th annual Chef Culinary Conference competition. His team was one of three to win gold medals for excellence. Judges awarded points for criteria like teamwork, presentation, taste and creativity.

PLATTEVILLE - Steve Monteferrante looks around the Pioneer Crossing food service area at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and he can visualize steaming Italian panini grills and wafting pans of Spanish paella amid hordes of hungry patrons.

It's all a part of what he thinks food service can be at UWP.

Monteferrante, UWP's executive chef, attended the annual Chef Culinary Conference last month at the University of Massachusetts. Also competing in the contest portion of the conference, Monteferrante was part of a four-member team that took home top honors.

In its 10th year, the conference drew together chefs and culinary specialists from all around the world for five days of presentations and demonstrations of cutting-edge food preparation techniques. This year's theme "Tastes of the World" brought an emphasis on global cuisine. Monteferrante, who attended the event for the first time, was impressed with conference presenters.

"Each person had their own little niche," Monteferrante said. "It was unreal. These people had so much knowledge. I'm going to go back every year."

The fifth day of the conference brought a competition between participating chefs. Organized into four-member teams, chefs competed against each other to prepare the best dishes. Monteferrante joined with Morrisville Auxiliary Corp. Sous Chef Jamie Smith and McMaster University Bistro Chef Nathan Evans and Operations Manager Brendan McCrory.

"We started at 5:30 in the morning, and you don't know what you're going to cook," Monteferrante said. "You have a half an hour once you're given the ingredients."

Cooking multiple dishes, his team prepared pear and apple soup, seasoned greens with blueberry vinaigrette, pan-seared sea bass with sweet chili sauce, and roasted chicken with brown rice pilaf. Points were given on criteria like service methods, teamwork, presentation, nutritional balance, taste, texture, creativity and practicality. Monteferrante's team was one of three groups awarded gold medals for excellence.

"We never worked together before. With the points system, it's really important how well you work together," Monteferrante said. "I think it has a lot to do with personality. We just clicked. That's why we won the gold."

Monteferrante is already trying to implement things he learned at the conference here at UWP. Some international items are already offered at Pioneer Crossing, but Monteferrante would like to see more international cuisine, as well as additional healthy choices.

"Low carb is becoming big, vegetarian as well, so I'd like to see more of these things on my menu," Monteferrante said. "My biggest challenge is getting my staff up to speed with me. It takes time, but it's working really well."

The chef, who learned his craft at the Culinary Institute of America in New York and has worked at five-star hotel restaurants around the country, has lofty ambitions at UWP.

"My goal is to be the number one food service in the country. We're trying to stand out, and I think we're doing a great job doing it," he said. "We're setting a standard here. We're becoming a leader in our field."

Monteferrante, who now lives in Platteville with his wife and two sons, takes great pride in bringing his knowledge and experience to the university's dining service.

"It's still in my heart to put out the best possible dish that I can. It's all about the food," Monteferrante continued. "That's what I want to be known as-the food guy."