Megan Ketover, CPC, Named Pastry Chef of Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza

The Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza is pleased to announce that Megan Ketover has been named Pastry Chef. Megan's responsibilities include creating desserts, breads and pastries for both The Restaurants at Palm Court and the hotel's banquet and meeting facilities as well as managing a team of pastry chefs and the day-to-day duties of the pastry kitchen.

Megan Ketover, Certified Pastry Culinarian (CPC) is a summa cum laude graduate of the Midwest Culinary Institute (MCI) in Cincinnati, Ohio. Upon graduation, she worked at the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza under the tutelage of award-winning Pastry Chef Kat Kessler before returning to the MCI as a Pastry Chef Instructor. At MCI, Megan worked in Bakery Hill, the retail bakery outlet of the school, where she created wedding and specialty cakes as well as custom pastries and desserts. As a Pastry-Arts Instructor, she taught the culinary-arts and pastry students key classes, including Baking for Restaurants and Nutritional Baking. Megan was also the Prep Chef on "The Dish," a local weekly television show filmed at MCI.

Awards & Honors

In 2009, Megan won the American Culinary Federation's Northeast Region Pastry Chef of the Year and competed as one of four Pastry Chefs for the national title. The American Culinary Federation states "The 2009 ACF Northeast Region Pastry Chef of the Year Award recognizes a pastry chef who has displayed a passion for the craft, has an accomplished reputation in the pastry field and has given back through the education of others by sharing his or her skills and knowledge."

Megan has completed her American Culinary Federation-Certified Executive Chef practical and is a recipient of the American Culinary Federation's President's Medallion from John Kinsella, CMC, CCE, WGMC, AAC, past president of the American Culinary Federation (ACF). President's Medallions are tokens of appreciation and honor those that contribute significantly to the culinary profession.

As a competitor on the Food Network's "Challenge", Megan was selected for an episode of the competition show that featured four chefs that each must create an edible bridge. Megan's bridge was a four foot replica of Cincinnati's Suspension Bridge. The judges comments were positive; they said she was highly organized, had a great attitude, was well trained and that her presentation was a great start for a "Food Network Challenge rookie".