Strawberries are a favorite of American diners, and operators across the country—from quick-service venues to fine-dining restaurants—use strawberries on menus in every daypart to generate orders. Guaranteed to appeal, California strawberries enhance and add value to salads, appetizers, desserts, beverages, sauces and condiments.

With such broad popularity, the California Strawberry Commission knows there are thousands of signature strawberry items on menus waiting to be discovered. So, the commission is asking foodservice pros to take a photo of their favorite strawberry dish to share—in their own operations or when dining out.

Simply take a photo of the strawberry item, then e-mail it to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Be sure to include your name, mailing address, the name of the dish and the name of the restaurant. Even easier, you can also post on social media using #strawberryspotting. In exchange, each month through October 30, 2015, the California Strawberry Commission will select a favorite photo, publicize it on the website and in its operator newsletter, and send a berry nice gift in appreciation. Let the strawberry snapping begin!

Food and beverage executive Fernando Salazar was named the new managing director of The Culinary Institute of America (CIA), San Antonio, effective June 1. He replaced David Kellaway, CMC, managing director for the past five years, who relocated to Colorado.

Salazar has been involved with the CIA for several years, serving on the executive committee of the college’s Latin Cuisines Advisory Council and presenting at several of its thought-leadership conferences. He was commencement speaker at the CIA's New York campus in 2010.

Salazar comes to the CIA from Wyndham Hotels and Resorts where, since 2007, he was vice president for food and beverage and vice president of operations for Latin America. From 1996 to 2007, he held several management positions with Omni Hotels and Resorts, including director of operations for the Omni Colonnade in San Antonio and vice president for food and beverage for the entire company.

His career in food and beverage management began in 1975 as restaurant manager with Helmsley Hotels at the St. Moritz in New York City, and continued with more than a decade at Westin Hotels.

The North American Olive Oil Association(NAOOA), a nonprofit group that promotes the health, versatility and authenticity of all types of olive oil for North American consumers, announces registration is open for its Inaugural Olive Oil Conference—“Spend Wisely on Olive Oil”—to be held Aug. 25 and 26 at the Westin O’Hare near Chicago in Rosemont, Ill.

A team of five students enrolled in the Kendall College School of Culinary Arts’ associate and baccalaureate programs on beat three other teams to win the 2015 National Baron H. Galand Culinary Knowledge Bowl on Aug. 1 at the American Culinary Federation’s (ACF) National Convention & Show at the Orlando (Fla.) World Center Marriott.

Their success reclaims the title and is the third win for a Kendall College team in the last six years of this national competition. Earlier this year in Indianapolis, the Kendall team swept the annual regional competition for a sixth consecutive year to qualify for the national final.

The Kendall College team, consisting of Alex Gabrielson (captain; Pella, Iowa), Michael Lanzerotte (Bloomington, Ill.), Emily Mankus (Lincolnshire, Ill.), Nelia Salvi (Madison, Wis.) and Alex Szabo (Prescott, Ariz.), competed against student teams from professional foodservice-training programs at schools in Riverhead, N.Y., Savannah, Ga., and Kirkland, Wash., representing the ACF’s Northeast, Southeast and Western Regions, respectively. Culinary student Mike Kubiesa (Elmhurst, Ill.) served as a second alternate on Kendall’s team.

If you think you can’t teach sauces within a 50-minute context, you absolutely can, says Chef Weiner. But first, you need to prep … yourself.

By Adam Weiner, CFSE

Sauces can greatly elevate a dish. A poached egg is nothing special. Take that poached egg and put it in a muffin and add a slice of ham and you have a breakfast sandwich served throughout the country at countless fast-food places. Place that poached egg on top of an English muffin with a slice of ham and add hollandaise sauce, and you have something wonderful.

The Gold Medal Classroom The official ezine for CAFE November 2015 issue

Becoming unique, contemporary and benchmark setting defines a brand. Here’s a checklist to determine if your program is forward thinking or merely churning out graduates. Start by asking yourself, “How is my program perceived in the marketplace?”

Learning to act sustainably requires a mindset change, and long-term thinking must replace short-term thinking. Teaching why sustainability is so important now and in the future will arm your graduates with the power to make sound ecological decisions.

Telling people to be the best they can be allows them to quit striving whenever they want. To be the best in your field, however, one must always strive for the next level. This is the generations-long American Dream that we, as teachers, offer our students.

By Adam Weiner, CFSE

I would like to dedicate this article to my two mentors and instructors for my California Teaching Credential: Susan Clark and the recently passed Lee Clark.

In this article I would like to revisit two previously published articles.

The first article is “Assessing Culinary Math Skills,” September 2011. This article has received more than 3,500 hits, and is one of the most popular articles that I have written. It is a culinary-math assessment test that I believe should be utilized by all instructors within the first week of a student starting your class.

Sadly, I have noticed that in the four years since I first wrote this assessment, scores are dropping. Today, I had a new student ask me how to triple the first ingredient in a recipe. The first ingredient was “one cup of water.”