CULINARY ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE
LANCE NITAHARA

Lance Nitahara is a Chef Instructor at Flint Hills Technical College in Emporia, Kansas, where he works to inspire the next generation of culinarians to achieve new heights of gastronomical excellence. Having a decade of experience in the industry including working in locales such as Montreal and the Alaskan frontier, Chef Nitahara  delights in bringing what he learned from these unique experiences to the classroom. Chef Nitahara was also recently a food columnist for the Christian Camp and Conference Center Association’s quarterly Magazine, InSite.

Along with his work and teaching credentials, Chef Nitahara has also won numerous culinary competition medals from the American Culinary Federa tion as well asthe Societe Culinaire’s New York Salon of Culinary Art.

Chef Nitahara is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii, where he was born and raised.  He went on to graduate with honors from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York with a bachelor’s degree in culinary management.  Chef Nitahara is an ACF Certified Executive Chef, as well as a Certified Pastry Culinarian.

Most recently, Chef Nitahara was a winner of the TV Food Network’s competition show, “Chopped,” as well as a sous chef on “Iron Chef America.” 

He lives in Emporia, Kansas with his wife, Kelli, and three-year old daughter, Danielle.