By Audrey Heckwolf

Why is what consumers experience much closer to ordinary than extraordinary? Are we to blame as educators?

For the past 10 years I have made my living as a chef. As a chef, I need to advocate for the importance to possess the ability to provide excellent service more than expected. Too many chefs fail to understand that service is certainly as important—maybe even more important—than delicious food.

By Christopher Koetke, CEC, CCE

Deadline to submit efforts in sustainable/green practices that have affected the curriculum is April 1, postmarked.

As we begin 2010 and a traditional time of renewal, CAFÉ and Kendall College are looking forward to presenting the second-annual CAFÉ/Kendall Green Award. One deserving culinary program will receive recognition for its sustainability efforts plus $1,000—proving that sustainability pays!

By Victor J. McNulty

To the ACCSC’s Instructor of the Year, a bad student is any good teacher’s job. The trick is to inspire the uninspired.

Gordon Ramsay aside, the days of screaming chefs ruling with an iron fist over the kitchen kingdom has pretty much ended, in the U.S., anyway. We now live in a litigious/PC society where such behavior can get you into hot water, pun intended. If the chef should raise his or her voice, throw an item or mention an employee’s questionable upbringing, the ensuing results would not be worth the momentary satisfaction.

Most people are not motivated negatively, or at least not motivated to please their aggressor. They may even be driven to quit, steal, complain to a superior, vandalize, contact agencies like the Department of Labor and the Better Business Bureau, fist-fight or the crème de la crème (pun fully intended) of contacting the dreaded harassment lawyer. I’ve seen all the above.

Sullivan University’s Derek Spendlove succeeds Guggenmos as chair; rest of commission named.

Derek Spendlove, CEPC, CCE, AAC, baking-and-pastry-arts chair for the National Center for Hospitality Studies (NCHS) at Sullivan University, Louisville, Ky., has been named chair of the American Culinary Federation, Inc. (ACF) Certification Commission and will assume the position’s responsibilities on Jan. 15, 2010. Spendlove will replace current chair Karl J. Guggenmos, AAC, University Dean of Culinary Education, Johnson & Wales University, Providence, R.I., who will remain on the commission as past chair.

By Douglas L. Alley

When we work together, the foodservice workplace provides many opportunities to do well by doing good.

The ancient fable of stone soup recounts the story of three hungry travelers who come upon a small town, plagued by years of war and meager harvest. Having not even enough for themselves, the villagers urge the travelers to move on without ceasing. "We have nothing for you,” they say.