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Arkansas Diamond Chef 2026

Recently, culinary professionals, hospitality leaders, and students from across Arkansas gathered for Arkansas Diamond Chef, an annual culinary competition and fundraiser hosted by the UA–Pulaski Technical College Foundation. The event brings together student chefs, professional mentors, local restaurants, and community supporters for an evening centered around food, hospitality, and culinary education. Funds raised through the event support scholarships, student success initiatives, and programs within the Culinary Arts & Hospitality Management Institute (CAHMI) at UA–Pulaski Technical College.

The evening featured restaurant tasting stations, live culinary competitions, auctions, and recognition of leaders in Arkansas’s hospitality industry. Student teams were paired with professional chefs in a fast-paced cooking competition that highlighted creativity, teamwork, and technical skills.

One of this year’s student competitors was UAMS Culinary Medicine Instructor Alyssa Frisby, who recently graduated from the Culinary Arts program at UA–Pulaski Technical College. Alyssa was honored to earn second place in the competition after months of preparation and practice alongside her culinary team, led by Chef Scott Rains from Table 28.

With a background in nutrition and culinary medicine, Alyssa enjoys exploring ways to connect cooking skills with practical, approachable nutrition education. Her interest in culinary medicine continues to shape her work both in and outside of the kitchen.

Experiences like Arkansas Diamond Chef highlight the value of mentorship, collaboration, and hands-on learning within Arkansas’s culinary community. Alyssa is grateful for the encouragement and support she received from classmates, chefs, faculty, and colleagues throughout the experience.

Emina Gibic, MS, RD

Emina primarily grew up in Fort Worth, Texas after her mother immigrated in 1999 from Bosnia, a small Eastern European country. She received her undergraduate degree in Nutrition from Texas Women’s University in 2015. After college, she began working in healthcare as an outpatient dietitian. She worked as an RD providing nutrition counseling to patients with a range of medical conditions such as cancer, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obsesity.

Emina changed fields when she moved to Colorado in 2022 and began working as an RD in school nutrition. She had a great experience conducting work in menu plannning, scratch-based recipe development, and allergy management. It also made her more aware of the impact that institutional food changes can have on public health. Her time working in school nutrition ignited a passion and interest in food system change that led to her completing a graduate degree in Sustainable & Resilient Food Systems at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. The degree focused on courses and projects in food systems, program development, outcome-based evaluation, and community development.

With a goal of being closer to Texas, she began looking at fulfilling RD roles in Arkansas. This ultimately led her to apply for the Culinary Medicine Instructor role. She is excited to be a part of the work that the Culinary Medicine Program at UAMS is doing! Emina believes there is great value in improving health outcomes in our communities with not only verbal nutrition education, but also hands-on food literacy and cooking skills. In her free time she enjoys doing group fitness classes, walking and hiking with her little dogs, trying new recipes and foods, and watching a captivating TV show.

Culinary Medicine’s Alyssa Frisby Stops by Saturday Daybreak

Alyssa Frisby, registered dietitian for the Culinary Medicine program, was featured on Channel 7’s Saturday morning show, Daybreak, to discuss healthy eating choices with viewers. She offered expert guidance on incorporating nutritious foods into everyday meals and reinforced the Culinary Medicine program’s mission of using food as a tool to support health and well-being.

For tips on making healthy eating choices, watch the full interview here.