Cervena Restaurateur of the Year Scholarship Awarded

Anthony Mandriota, Graduate Student at Florida International University

Cervena Venison of New Zealand awarded its first $2500 “Restaurateur of the Year” scholarship to Anthony Mandriota, a graduate student studying hospitality management at Florida International University School of Hospitality and Tourism Management.  The scholarship was awarded to the student submitting the best essay on “Meat Trends for 2007” and was judged by the faculty of the hospitality program at FIU.

“I am so grateful to Cervena venison for this opportunity to continue my education,” enthused Mandriota.  “I have served Cervena at restaurants I’ve worked in and was always impressed with its consistency and high quality, so it was easy for me to relate to the product.  I also want to thank the quality of leadership that Florida International University’s Chef Moran provides  his students – it has been invaluable to me as a chef and a future teacher.”

Anthony Mandriota, who was raised in Suffolk County, Long Island, began his cooking career there at Le Soir Restaurant in Bayport.  He began cooking after high school and honed his skills the traditional way through hands-on experience in kitchens through the NY and New England areas.  After 20 years behind the stove and a move to Florida, he decided to pursue his career goal of becoming a hospitality management professor.  "My father is a professor, and I always enjoyed the teaching and mentoring portion of my job as the chef in a kitchen, so I decided to go back to college so that I could teach others what I’ve so enjoyed doing,” says Mandriota. 

Mandriota earned his BS of Science in Hospitality Management at FIU in 2006, graduating at the top of his class.  He entered their masters program in September 2006, and his goal is to pursue a teaching position when he graduates later this year.

Cervena has partnered with the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Florida International University for three consecutive years at the South Beach Food and Wine Festival, held in Miami annually.  FIU is a founding sponsor of SOBE. This is the first scholarship that Cervena Venison of New Zealand has awarded to a student at Florida International University.