Two more honors were recently bestowed on the food & beverage program at the Courtyard by Marriott Newark/University of Delaware.

First, in early February, Executive Chef, Mark Chopko was honored as “Manager of the Year” at the Delaware Hotel & Lodging Association’s Stars of the Industry Awards Dinner.  Their criteria for the winner read as follows, “this person must serve in a management role, but not the General Manager.  They must show leadership in the department and have a strong commitment to customer service.”   Congratulations to  Chef Mark for receiving this incredible award.

To follow that up, more recently, Chef Mark and a small team from the Courtyard participated in the Nutritious Newark Cookoff at the STAR Campus of the University of Delaware.  For the event Chef Mark and Executive Sous Chef, Jeff Brittingham, created a unique dish to be entered into the contest while Director of Sales, Melissa Driggs, and Banquet Beverage Manager, Joseph Foti, assisted in presentation and service.  The dish entered by Chef Mark and Chef Jeff was a beautiful Thai Noodle and Veggie Salad with a Peanut Dressing. Over 500 attendees voted in the categories of Tastiest Food, Most Creative and Best Presentation.  When the votes were tallied, Chef Mark and Chef Jeff’s dish was voted as the Most Creative. Congratulations to Chefs Mark and Jeff and the rest of the team for receiving this recognition.

The team at the Nutritious Newark Cookoff
The Beautiful Award Winning Thai Noodle and Veggie Salad