A “Chopped” champion and a Scranton-area bakery owner, both graduates of Pennsylvania College of Technology’s hospitality program, will return to the college for its Visiting Chef Series, which culminates in a dinner to benefit scholarships.
Chefs Kristina Wisneski, sous chef for Pure Roots Provisions and a Food Network “Chopped” champion, and Alisha Howell Summa, owner and executive pastry chef of Lynn Sandy’s Bakery, will spend three days on campus, mentoring students and working alongside them to produce the elegant Visiting Chef Dinner.
The dinner is scheduled for 6 p.m. April 14 in Le Jeune Chef Restaurant, a live-learning laboratory for students in the college’s baking and culinary arts majors. Net proceeds from the dinner are used for annual scholarship awards. In addition to dinner, guests can tour the college’s culinary and baking and pastry arts facilities and interact with students.
Wisneski spent her early childhood in Iowa, where she helped to cook for family gatherings with her mother’s side of the family, then moved to Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley, near her father’s family.
“Learning about new foods and having my dad take my brother and me places to try food was exciting,” she says. “He instilled that you’ll never know if you don’t like something if you aren’t willing to try it – which is something I’ve pretty much followed for as long as I can remember.”
While at Penn College, she cooked at the Kentucky Derby, Pennsylvania Farm Show and several Visiting Chef Dinners, as well as helping with tours, tutoring and lab assisting.
After earning a bachelor’s in culinary arts & systems in 2013, she moved to the Philadelphia area to work for Penn College grad Chef Andrew Masciangelo ’97 at Savona. While there, the Zagat restaurant guide named her one of “20 Sous Chefs to Watch in Philly.” Wisneski then joined the Zavino Hospitality Group, learning more about Italian cuisine with Chef Carlos Aparicio, and later opened Amis Trattoria in Devon with Chef Brad Spence. Following Amis, she spent three years at Ripplewood Whiskey & Craft in Ardmore with Chef Biff Gottehrer before rejoining Masciangelo at Pure Roots Provisions in King of Prussia.
In 2019, she appeared on Food Network’s popular “Chopped” competition show and was the last chef standing – winning the episode. She was asked to return to compete with other Chopped Champions in a multi-episode event in 2020, winning the first episode but finishing third in the final.
Summa began working as a cake decorator at Lynn Sandy’s Bakery upon her 2012 graduation from Penn College, where she earned an associate degree in baking & pastry arts. After years of work, dedication and product development, she worked her way up to executive pastry chef and purchased the business in 2022.
Summa has made cakes for NASCAR, WWE and other well-known clients, and the bakery has received Readers’ Choice Awards from The Scranton Times-Tribune for Best Wedding Cakes, Best Bakery and Best Baked Goods. Summa has also been invited to participate in the Ronald McDonald House Gourmet Gala for the past three years and has supported the community through school fundraisers and Operation Cookie, which donates cookies to troops overseas during the holidays.
Like Wisneski, Summa added cooking at the Kentucky Derby and Visiting Chef Dinners to her student experience, and her chocolate sculpture received the Chef Eugene Mattucci Best of Show Award at the college’s Food Show.
Tickets for the Visiting Chef Dinner are $125. To reserve seats, visit the Visiting Chef Series website, call 570-320-8020 or email College Relations.
The menu and wines for the April 14 Visiting Chef Dinner are:
Reception
Fresh pea & ricotta crostini: prosciutto, aged balsamic and mint
Tuna tartare: soy, crispy shallot, micro cilantro
Smoked Mozzarella arancini with basil pesto
Lamb spiedini with hummus and adjika sauce
Spring pasta: maitake mushroom, asparagus, cippolini onion, Madeira cream sauce
Full bar available
First Course
Burrata salad
shaved asparagus, arugula, radish, prosciutto, hazelnut, herb focaccia
J. Wilkes, Pinot Blanc, Santa Maria Valley, 2020
Second Course
Scallop and risotto
spring pea, crispy maitake mushrooms, grana Padano cheese
Domaine des Baluettes, Les Coteaux, Muscadet Sevre et Maine Sur Lie, 2021
Main Course
Braised short rib
potato pave, cumin-and-honey baby carrot, salsa verde and adjika sauce
Robert Mondavi, Private Selection, Pinot Noir, 2020
Dessert
Assorted dessert buffet featuring favorite recipes from Lynn Sandy’s Bakery
To learn more about hospitality majors at Penn College, call 570-327-4505.
For information about Penn College, a national leader in applied technology education, email the Admissions Office or call toll-free 800-367-9222.