BELFAST — Mark Hannibal, Culinary Arts Chef Instructor at the Waldo County Technical Center, received Certified Executive Chef Designation from the American Culinary Federation Waldo, April 29.

Hannibal, currently of Rockland, earned the Certified Executive Chef designation from the American Culinary Federation Inc., the nation's largest organization of professional chefs. Hannibal is a member and president of the Down East Chapter.

ACF operates the only comprehensive certification program for chefs in the United States and has certified more than 12,800 culinary professionals currently working worldwide. Candidates for certification must have high levels of work and educational experience and must pass both written and practical examinations. In addition, candidates must complete coursework in nutrition and supervisory management.

A Certified Executive Chef® (CEC®) is one who is a department head and usually is responsible for all culinary units in a restaurant, hotel, club, hospital or food service establishment. In addition to the CEC's culinary responsibilities, other duties include budget preparation, payroll, maintenance, controlling food costs and maintaining financial and inventory records. Certified chefs in restaurants, hotels, and other foodservice operations demonstrate the commitment to quality food service and must renew their certification(s) every five years. ACF has awarded more than 25,000 certifications since 1973 and is the only certifier of U.S. master chefs and master pastry chefs.

Hannibal has more than 30 years' experience in the food service industry. After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America in 1988, he worked for Chef Barry Thompson at the Sail Loft in Rockport and then ran the kitchen at Cappy's Chowder House in Camden for two years before opening his own place, Hannibal's Café on the Common in Union Maine. Hannibal lived upstairs of the cafe with his family for 13 years before selling it. It is now the Badger Café and Pub.

After selling the cafe' in 2008, Hannibal began his career as an educator. He has been at the Waldo County Technical Center for eight years. Having been a youth football coach and a founding member of Five Town Football, he complemented his classroom teaching with coaching sports teams, beginning with Lacrosse at Camden Hills Regional High School. As part of a team of coaches, over eight years, he helped to transform a program with a perennial record of 0-8 to a contender. At the conclusion of that season, Hannibal chose to focus solely on his culinary career. He has developed four-person culinary teams from among his students, and they have gone on to win third, second, and first place finishes in the Maine state ProStart competitions. Two years ago he took the first place team to Minneapolis to compete, where they placed 24th out of 42 teams who came from around the world.

Hannibal said in a news release, "Coaching is coaching. It does not matter if it is in the kitchen or on an athletic field. The concepts and approaches are the same. Bring your best game every time; pay attention to your environment, co-workers, and teammates, and you can always come out with a win."