The American Culinary Federation’s 2011 Chef Educator of the Year says success and failure through solo and team competitions helps prepare students for the real-life rigors of the workplace.

By Dina Altieri, CEC, CCE

Maybe I have always been competitive. I can remember wanting to hit a home run every time I got up to bat on the tee-ball field. I can remember my first softball coach encouraging me to be the best I could be at 7 years old.

Coaching is something we do every day as chef educators. We push our students to excel in ways they never thought possible. We have conversations with them about mise en place, professional etiquette and, of course, cooking ability. I vote we take it a step further and encourage them to compete in extracurricular competitions to whet their appetites for what lies ahead in the foodservice industry.

As you plan your goals and desires for your courses, student activities and department, here are three useful tools to inspire.

By Dr. Fred Mayo, CHE, CHT

This past summer, we discussed pursuing the ABCs and DEFs of your professional development and I indicated that September’s “Mayo’s Clinic” would be about planning for the fall and the year. It is something that we all do when we write syllabi, create new materials for our students and consider what we want to happen during the term. (In fact, I was just revising my MLA guidelines sheet for undergraduates. If any of you want a copy, just send me a note at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. asking for it, and I will be pleased to send you a copy.)

If we are involved in leading committees or task forces, it is time to refocus the agenda for the year, get the individuals engaged again and invite new members. It is also a time of dreaming about what you want to happen in your courses, your student activities and your department. I hope that the three points—Categories of Goals, Limited Goals and Mottos—in this “Clinic” provide you with some new things to try.

Courtesy of CIAprochef.com

You don't have to get on a plane to taste one of the glories of Brazilian cooking ... or a bubbling cassoulet from Southwest France ... or a Tuscan soup that tastes like somebody’s grandmother made it. Beans can take you there.

Through The Culinary Institute of America’s ProChef e-learning, “The World Bean Kitchen: Passport to Flavor,” presented by the Northarvest Bean Growers Association, debunks some of the myths that surround the cooking of dry beans. Learning segments include “Beyond Bean Basics,” “Bean Nation: The American Experience,” instructional videos and more.

Many foodservice students today have yet to experience fine dining. But it’s just as important to expose them to the several other service styles in the marketplace so they may excel in their careers.

By Wendy Gay, CHE

When I attended The Culinary Institute of America in the early ʼ80s, the restaurant business was divided into four types of dining: quick-service restaurants (QSRs), casual dining (brass & fern bistros), institutional dining and formal dining or “white tablecloth restaurants.” We were required to work in each of these environments. We had the diner for training in QSR and casual dining, instruction on institutional dining and three other restaurants to expose us to formal dining. By rotating through these four environments, we gained experience in each area.

The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation is encouraging restaurant-industry professionals to identify and nominate outstanding candidates for its 2012 awards: the College of Diplomats, the Michael E. Hurst Lifetime Achievement in Education Award and the Thad and Alice Eure Ambassador of Hospitality Award.

Submissions can be made online, mailed or faxed to (312) 566-9733. The nomination deadline is Aug. 31.

For the second consecutive year, Kendall College School of Culinary Arts students took home gold medals as winners of the American Culinary Federation’s (ACF) National Baron H. Galand Culinary Knowledge Bowl. The students beat finalist teams from Colorado, Georgia and Pennsylvania at the event, which was held today during the 2011 ACF National Convention at the Gaylord Texan in Dallas on July 24.

The Kendall College team, representing the ACF’s Central Region and consisting of Gabriele Ausraite, Robert Baki, Jacob Clara, Paige Rogers and Jacqueline Wallner (captain), competed against teams representing foodservice-training programs at schools in the ACF’s Northeastern, Southeastern and Western Regions.

This fall, the Center for the Advancement of Foodservice Education (CAFÉ) is offering its first workshop on catering operations and curriculum at Sullivan University. The school’s National Center for Hospitality Studies (NCHS) will host the event featuring keynote speaker Michael Roman, president and founder of Catersource Magazine, Conference and Tradeshow, from Friday, Oct. 21, through Sunday, Oct. 23. Registration is $374 per person through Sept. 1 ($474 after) and includes a welcome reception, two breakfasts, two lunches, a chef jacket and all educational materials.

The Culinary Institute of America's (CIA) Board of Trustees announced the renewal of the contract of Dr. Tim Ryan, CMC, as president of the CIA for a 10-year term.

Ryan has led the world-renowned, degree-granting CIA for a decade, stewarding the college through a period of enormous innovation and growth. Major advances have included the opening of new campuses in San Antonio, Texas, and Singapore; the expansion of the CIA's gold-standard degree programs from its main campus in Hyde Park, N.Y., to these new centers and the CIA at Greystone in St. Helena, Calif.; and the rapid growth of CIA thought leadership for the foodservice and hospitality industry through new research programs, industry conferences and publishing.

Chairman of the Board Richard Bradley summarized the board's unanimous decision: “We are delighted that Dr. Ryan will be at the helm as we embark on some of our most ambitious plans yet for The Culinary Institute of America. The board is thrilled with the CIA's leadership and strategy. We look forward to continuing the college's traditions of excellence in culinary education and thought leadership under Dr. Ryan's visionary direction.”

In an effort to provide new training and educational resources to foodservice professionals, the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) has developed nine new seafood instructional videos featuring acclaimed seafood-centric chefs.

By Margaret Checchi, M.Ed.

Successful transitioning from hands-on learning to hybridized classes depends on faculty who can create dynamic and engaging course content delivered with students’ best interests in mind.

A decade ago, it was unheard of to serve foams and essences; it was unrealistic to manipulate food at the very heart of its molecular structure. What seemed unrealistic and impossible then is becoming almost mainstream now. So it is with education.

At New England Culinary Institute, our students slurp coffee desperately in the cold, black dark of the pre-dawn chill, hunching over pocket notebooks filled with ratios, temperatures, cook times and formulas as they create the day’s menus and generate mise en place lists. They are like the students before them and the ones before them, since Socrates held lessons in the olive grove. With luck, Chef will come into the kitchen having had a good night’s sleep and the students will get through the day without feeling completely inadequate.