Napa Technology reports 2013 wine trends as wine experts weigh in from the field.

Napa Technology, developer of WineStation 3.0, conducted its third-annual survey* asking leading wine-industry professionals to share what they see happening in wine trends in restaurants, arenas, hotels, cruise ships and retail venues.

Informed predictions for 2013 include a continued effort to reach Millennials, greater emphasis on women wine drinkers and a general pronouncement that wines-by-the-glass programs should stretch beyond the “known” varietals and provide more choices.

Last year’s Napa Technology survey revealed that ordering wines by the glass was on the rise, driven by a more sophisticated and younger customer, but that the Baby Boomer generation were a mighty purchasing force not to be ignored. 

John C. Schopp cooks with jazz, creating an intimate communion with his guests that’s all about nourishing the essence of another human being.

By Lynn Schwartz

John Schopp, chef-owner of Center Stage Catering located in Rocky Mount, Va., believes that if you wrap your brain around what you want to do with your life, everything will fall into place. Doors open. Connections appear.

Schopp’s doors opened to music. Jazz. And while Schopp does play guitar, his path was not about making music, but about feeding the musicians. This is a task that he takes seriously and is fully present for, approaching his menus with the same artistic focus that is required of a musician when creating or performing a song.

Staying in Tune
Intent on nourishing the artist’s soul, Schopp views preparing a meal like making music. “A musician works from the beginning to the end of the song,” he says. “How they fill that space inside is what makes the music. It’s the same with food.”

Center Stage Catering’s website describes it even further, comparing its chefs to jazz musicians and the food they create to a well-executed jam session—fresh, spontaneous, playing off of each other and the audience energy—all within the parameters of the song. This approach to food has made all of Schopp’s clients, even those without musical talents, very happy.

Asking students to prepare abstracts or executive summaries of documents they have read encourages separating an article into its relevant parts, synthesizing information from various sections, and describing it in a clear and well-organized manner.

By Dr. Fred Mayo, CHE, CHT

Last month, we discussed the value of writing annotated bibliographies as a way to encourage students to read articles—both in scholarly journals and trade publications—and other documents critically. This month, we will discuss the merits of assigning executive summaries and abstracts as ways to encourage critical thinking.

Differences between Executive Summaries and Abstracts
Although both abstracts and executive summaries provide information about the article to which they are attached, they serve very different purposes.

Says Chef Weiner, who will speak to this topic at the CAFÉ Leadership Conference in Miami in June, there are many benefits of person-to-person interaction that can’t be replicated by social networking.

By Adam Weiner, CFSE

Editor’s Note: CAFÉ asked Chef Weiner to present a seminar at the June 2013 Leadership Conference in Miami next month. His topic: “WHAT GOOD IS SITTING ALONE IN YOUR ROOM: TEACHING YOUR STUDENTS THE WHY AND HOW OF REAL NETWORKING.” For May’s GMC he decided to write a brief summary of some of the points of his presentation. If you haven’t yet enrolled for the conference, visit http://cafemeetingplace.com/cafe-events/2013-leadership-conference to register.           

So far this year, my focus has been on teaching various cooking techniques. Let’s take a break for a month and talk about one of today’s hottest buzzwords: networking. Don’t worry, this isn’t another article about social networking. This is a brief introduction on how to educate and influence the Facebook and Twitter generation on why and how to perform the dance of real networking.

Key metrics show that U.S. pork producers have reduced the pork industry’s carbon footprint by more than one-third since 1959.

As the world celebrated another Earth Day on April 22, research shows that America’s pork producers have made huge improvements in environmental management over the last 50 years. The research, titled “A 50-Year Comparison of the Carbon Footprint and Resource Use of the U.S. Swine Herd: 1959 - 2009,” found that modern pork production methods have led to a 35% decrease in the carbon footprint, a 41% reduction in water usage and a 78% drop in land needed to produce a pound of pork compared with a 1959 baseline.

“As a pork producer, I'm proud of the accomplishments we've made as an industry,” said Conley Nelson, National Pork Board president and producer from Algona, Iowa. “But today's competitive market demands that we do even more to improve how we produce pork. That’s why pork producers are working together to fund new environmental research that will help us build on the progress we've made over the past 50 years.”