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Just a mere six days before the took center stage at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, Chef Daniel McDonald received a call. Someone from Team Indiana dropped out, and he was next in line for the golden ticket spot – if he’d like it. 

“I accepted because how do you not?” McDonald said with a laugh. “These are the best people in the world at what they do. To sit next to them and see how much finesse they put into a plate in that amount of time, that’s intimidating and inspiring all at once.”

With less than a week to prepare for the World Food Championships, McDonald and his teammates — David Edison, an Ivy Tech Culinary Arts graduate and current sixth-grade teacher in Wayne Township Schools, and Tyler Cupp, a sous chef at Geraldine’s Supper Club and Restoration Hardware — sprang into action. The challenge: craft two bacon-based dishes in a 50-minute window, with one incorporating dried mangoes.

The team’s winning creation? A mojo-braised bacon gordita fried in bacon fat and layered with bright, bold flavors.

 “We braised a whole unsliced bacon from Goose the Market in a citrus marinade, reduced it into a glaze, and served it on a gordita,” McDonald said. “We marinated queso fresco in mango nectar and pickled jalapeños, added a mango salsa with Fresno chili and red onion, and finished it with Peruvian-style garlic sauces. You could pick it up and eat it like a pizza slice, and all of it had to come together in 50 minutes.”

McDonald’s dish not only wowed the judges but also captured the spirit of his cooking philosophy. 

“I cook with a pretty simple philosophy,” he said. “I don’t try to be too much. I want food that tells a story — food you want to eat. If you take a bite and want a second bite, that’s success for me. I don’t want to serve you something fancy for the sake of being fancy.”

Though it was his first time competing at the World Food Championships, McDonald is no stranger to culinary contests. 

“I’ve competed in several recipe and chili competitions, but this is by far the biggest accomplishment of my career as an individual chef,” he said.

The event also reunited him with Chef Cindy Hawkins, his former baking instructor at Ivy Tech Indianapolis, who also took home first place in the dessert category. 

“Cindy taught me how to bake,” McDonald said. Although he had front-of-house experience when he started taking classes at Ivy Tech, he didn’t really have that back-of-house experience.

 “She’s the one who really sparked my love for the kitchen. I came to Ivy Tech taking baking and culinary classes without a clear plan, but the organization, the structure, and the camaraderie she built in that classroom made me want to become a chef. I fell in love with that culture,” he said.

To now stand beside her as a fellow chef — and teammate — felt surreal. 

“To compete alongside her on Team Indiana, after she helped set me on this path, that’s a full-circle moment,” McDonald said.

Hawkins and McDonald were far from the only Ivy Tech connections at the competition. The Ivy Tech community was strongly represented among Team Indiana, including:

• Charlie Chapel, culinary alumnus

• Tracey Couillard, adjunct culinary instructor

• Brady Foster, culinary alumnus & owner of Foster's Cafe at the Lawrence Ivy Tech satellite location

• Susanne Grier, former baking adjunct instructor

• Tara Fred, culinary student (supporting role)

• Jeremiah Johnson, Madison campus faculty

• Neil Malloy, culinary student (supporting role)

• Cole Padgett, culinary alumnus

• Jenni Schouppe, Department Chair for Hospitality Administration/Culinary Arts

• David Edison, culinary alumnus

Now a full-time culinary instructor at Ivy Tech Indianapolis, McDonald teaches classes ranging from hospitality safety and sanitation to classical cuisines. Before joining Ivy Tech full-time this year, he spent years as an adjunct instructor for the campus while working as an executive chef, culinary director, and even a food safety educator and inspector for the Marion County Public Health Department.

“I teach leadership and communication as much as I teach food,” McDonald said. “You can teach someone to cook, but if they don’t have those management and people skills, they’re missing a key part of what makes a great chef.”

For his students, McDonald’s win isn’t just an impressive headline, he says, it’s proof that opportunity often shows up unexpectedly.

 “I tell my students not to be scared of being successful,” he said. “It would have been easy to turn down that competition because it came up so fast – I mean, I only had six days to put a team together and prep,” McDonald said, laughing. “But if you don’t take that first step, you’ll never know what’s possible.”

He credits Ivy Tech with shaping not only his career, but his approach to teaching and mentoring others. 

“You know, it feels amazing because for me, Ivy Tech, when I came here as a student, I met some of the best chefs in the industry, and they connected me with all of the other great chefs in the city,” McDonald shared. “Every student I interact with, I imagine them taking a place in that community and for them to see that kind of success as possible down the line … They’re able to see this growth, and they’re able to see what role Ivy Tech played in that.”

McDonald and his team were presented with a $10,000 check as part of their winnings. His team will next compete at the World Food Championships Final Table in Bentonville, Arkansas, in the spring, where category winners face off for the title of overall World Food Champion — and a top prize of up to $150,000.

“Yes, it’s intimidating,” McDonald said. “Not only will I be up against the best in the world — I’ll be competing against the chef who taught me how to cook. But even if we don’t win, we’re still among the best out there, and that’s something to celebrate.”

And celebrate he has, not with fanfare, but with family. 

“I don’t know if it’s fully clicked yet,” he said, laughing. “I’m just proud. Proud of my team. They answered when I called, and without them, none of this would be possible. I’m also proud of the students who see this and think, ‘That could be me someday.’ Because it absolutely can.”

51����Ƶ sponsored the . Ivy Tech Indianapolis has been a proud sponsor of for the past two years. 

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