Aidan Murphy, CMC, the executive chef of Old Warson Country Club in St. Louis, MO, has become one of only 61 chefs in the United States to earn the coveted Certified Master Chef (CMC) designation from the American Culinary Federation (ACF).

Aidan Murphy, CMC, the executive chef of Old Warson Country Club in St. Louis, MO, has become one of only 61 chefs in the United States to earn the coveted Certified Master Chef (CMC) designation from the American Culinary Federation (ACF).

Murphy is chairman of the board for the ACF St. Louis Chapter and chair of the ACF Culinary Competition Committee for the Central Region. His achievements include being named the 2006 ACF Central Region Chef of the Year and receiving a 2004 ACF President's Medallion. He also won the Chef of the Year Award from his current chapter in 1995 and the Chef of the Year Award from the ACF Palm Beach Chapter in 1989. In addition to his current positions, he served as the 1992 captain of the ACF Southeast Regional Culinary Team, which earned five gold medals in Frankfurt, Germany.

The CMC designation is ACF's highest level of certification and is earned by demonstrating a mastery of cooking techniques over an eight-day period. Murphy earned the title on April 28, 2006 after a successful completion of the program. He completed a series of exams that were administered in eight major segments: healthy cooking, buffet catering, classical cuisine, freestyle cooking, global cuisine, baking and pastry, international cuisine, and market basket. Each segment of the exam was graded in two parts: kitchen skills and presentation/tasting.