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In this issue of Chef's Stirrings:
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The 15th annual Foodservice Educators Network International (FENI) conference
The 15th annual Foodservice Educators Network International (FENI) conference, held February 15-17 in Chicago,IL was an educational and networking tour de force, with outstanding attendance and master classes that enthralled and captivated foodservice educators in attendance.

The summit was kicked off with the pre conference seminar: Techniques for Flipping your Classroom or In-House Training Program. Presenter and MC Nai Wang held the audience in his hand and also made great use of technology to engage and bring in other educators to make the presentation more robust. Wang reviewed the history of flipping the class, covered easy-to-use tools to create a flipped model in any class and explored future technologies in the artificially intelligent adaptive mastery systems.

Master classes were held in two locations Saturday; The Washburne Culinary Center and The French Pastry school. An entertaining Saturday was capped off with an award presentation and cocktail reception at the Hard Rock Hotel. Attendees were welcomed into the chic and contemporary Fender Ballroom, whose 20-foot ceilings and neutral hues added to the modern ambiance. Showgoers were able to mingle and network with a wide variety of culinary educators and professional chefs.




Wang and Chef Magazine publisher and president Daniel von Rabenau presented Fritz Sonnenschmidt, CMC, AAC, HOF with the 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award in Culinary Education. Fritz Sonnenschmidt is a Certified Master Chef, author/editor of The Professional Art of Garde Manger, Dining with Sherlock Holmes, The American Harvest, and Tastes and Tales of a Chef: Stories and Recipes. He is also a television personality as well, appearing on PBS in six seasons of Cook Secrets of the CIA, and five seasons of Grilling Maestros. His lectures and cooking demonstrations are immensely popular, especially on kosher food, garde manger and charcuterie. Sonnenschmidt is one of the most recognized chefs among his peers, and his positive and inspirational words touched everyone in attendance.

No culinary event would be complete without a spread of delicious food and drink, and this reception was no exception. Two carving stations doled out slow-roasted turkey breast and top sirloin of beef, served with crisp artisan bread. Belgioioso Cheese, Inc. donated a plentiful artisan cheese display, while Galaxy Desserts provided desserts that were met with rave reviews.



Gordon Maybury Named Executive Chef of Arizona Biltmore
The Arizona Biltmore, A Waldorf Astoria resort, has appointed Gordon Maybury the executive chef of the historic property. Chef Maybury has assumed overall responsibility for the resort's six restaurants and lounges, 24-hour room service for the 740 guest accommodations, social catering, and meeting and group food functions.

"With more than two decades of diverse, top-tier experience, Chef Maybury brings the highest level of culinary skills, knowledge and insight to the Arizona Biltmore's extensive culinary operations," said Kirken. "Under his guidance, we look forward to gradual and thoughtful enhancements to the menus to tap the latest trends and continually add excitement and appeal."

Over his 24-year career, Maybury has cooked in the kitchens of Michelin-starred restaurants in Europe and served as executive chef at leading hotels and resorts in the U.S. and Caribbean. He comes to the Arizona Biltmore from the PGA National Resort & Spa, Palm Beach, Florida, where he was executive chef overseeing 10 food and beverage outlets and was involved in the design and concept development of two of the restaurants.

For more information about the Arizona Biltmore, please visit www.arizonabiltmore.com.


Lisa Ekus Wins 2012 Outstanding Career Award from Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 
On February 23, 2013 at the Gourmand Awards Gala event in Paris, France, Lisa Ekus, Founder & President of The Lisa Ekus Group, will be awarded the honor of 2012 Outstanding Career by the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards. Past winners of the Outstanding Career Award include Chuck Williams, Richard Grausman, and Dun Gifford.

In her more than 30 years in the culinary industry, Lisa Ekus has cooked dinner for Julia Child, media trained Emeril Lagasse and Padma Lakshmi, secured book deals for more than 150 authors, created culinary partnerships with leading manufacturers such as Lipton, Del Monte, Keebler, General Mills, Kraft, and Williams-Sonoma, and represented numerous restaurants, books, and food companies for public relations, including American Roland Food Corp. In addition to being a pioneer of the industry, Lisa is a cookbook collector with over 7,000 volumes (and counting!) in her library. She also works closely with a number of charitable organizations, including The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, PeaceTrees Vietnam, and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

The Lisa Ekus Group, which began as a public relations agency's ”the first of its kind in the United States, devoted entirely to cookbooks, chefs, and food products—has grown into a full-service culinary agency providing media training, public relations, consulting, talent representation, and literary agency services to a world of culinary talent. In 2000, The Lisa Ekus Group began offering Literary Agenting services and has since negotiated more than 350 book deals with such publishers as Andrews McMeel, Running Press, Artisan, Chronicle, HarperCollins, Penguin, Robert Rose, Simon & Schuster, Sterling, Ten Speed Press, Wiley, and numerous others. In 2009, Lisa was joined by her daughter Sally Ekus, Literary Associate, who has brought in numerous new authors to the blossoming literary agency.

Longtime client Anne Willan will be honored with the "Best in the World Award" from the 2012 Gourmand World Cookbook Awards for The Cookbook Library: Four Centuries of the Cooks, Writers, and Recipes That Made the Modern Cookbook.

For more information on The Lisa Ekus Group, please visit www.lisaekus.com.


Anthony Bourdain to Rock NRA Show 2013
Anthony Bourdain,known for his Emmy Award-winning series No Reservations and new programs The Taste (ABC) and Parts Unknown (CNN), will have a prominent role at the 2013 National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show and International Wine, Spirits & Beer Event (IWSB). He will deliver a special feature presentation, sign his latest books, and host the third annual Restaurants Rock industry celebration, the official after-party of the NRA Show and IWSB. NRA Show 2013 will be held May 18-21 at Chicago's McCormick Place. As the celebrity host of Restaurants Rock, Bourdain will judge the IWSB Star of the Bar mixology competition finals – to be held live at the May 19 event at Chicago's The Castle.

"The NRA Show and International Wine, Spirits & Beer Event are all about celebrating our excitement and passion for food, drink and hospitality," said Jeffery W. Davis , Convention Chair for NRA Show 2013 and CEO of the United States Beef Corporation. "As the foodservice industry gathers in Chicago, we are thrilled to welcome Anthony Bourdain as the official host of Restaurants Rock and featured speaker at NRA Show 2013. So plan to attend the greatest foodservice show on the planet to experience food, connections, innovations, ideas, inspiration, opportunity and more."

Bourdain has somewhat notoriously established himself as a professional advocate, social critic, and pork enthusiast, recognized for his caustic sense of humor worldwide. The "chef-at-large" at New York's famed Brasserie Les Halles, Bourdain is the author of the bestselling Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly – as well as the bestselling graphic novel Get Jiro!, Les Halles Cookbook, and others.
Registered NRA Show and IWSB attendees may purchase Restaurants Rock tickets for $50 each through April 5, 2013. After April 5, tickets will be available for $60 to NRA Show and IWSB attendees. Bourdain's featured speaker presentation and book signing will take place on Monday, May 20, 2013.

For more information, visit the Show and IWSB websites at Restaurant.org/Show andWineSpiritsBeer.org, and find the NRA Show on Twitter @NRAShow, Facebook, YouTubeand its blog Floored!.


Sara Lee Foodservice Hires Jeremy Lycan As Executive Chef
Sara Lee Foodservice, a division of The Hillshire Brands Company, has hired Jeremy Lycan as an executive chef on the company's foodservice culinary team. In his new role with Sara Lee Foodservice, Lycan will be responsible for recipe development, tastings and multimedia communications, such as photo shoots and instructional videos. He will also play a major role designing and facilitating training courses for hundreds of Sara Lee Foodservice customers and its broker chef network covering subjects such as product applications and industry trends.

"Chef Lycan's work in the kitchen has earned critical accolades from some of the most respected people and institutions in Chicago's food scene," said Kristin Bird, vice president of marketing, Sara Lee Foodservice. "He understands the nuances of running a restaurant and has taught hundreds of students how to improve their craft as an instructor at Le Cordon Bleu. Jeremy's hands-on experience and teaching career will make him a great resource for our marketing team, external partners and the operators we serve."

Lycan previously served as executive chef of Niche – an award-winning fine dining restaurant in Geneva, Ill. – and executive chef of Heritage Prairie Farm in Elburn, Ill. Lycan is a graduate of the School of Culinary Arts at Kendall College in Evanston, Ill. In 2002, he became the youngest chef instructor in school history to teach at the California Culinary Academy's Le Cordon Bleu program in San Francisco.

For more information about Sara Lee Foodservice, please visit www.saraleefoodservice.com.


Last call for Bols Around the World Entries 
Bols Around the World, the prestigious global bartending competition, is officially underway and the March 1st deadline for entries is fast approaching. Now in its seventh year, the competition seeks out the most inspiring, talented and charismatic bartenders drawn from 60 countries across five continents for a place in the Grand Final. Taking place in Amsterdam on 7th May 2013, 12 finalists will set out to impress the global panel of judges in front of an audience of 1200 people in the one-of-a-kind spectacular event.

There are three competition stages before a finalist from each region is selected, testing the very essence of what it takes to be a great bartender: creativity, knowledge and personality. The initial challenge is to create an iconic drink using Bols liqueurs, Bols Genever or both, followed by an exam on the fundamentals of bartending and a short video presenting the cocktail entry in the second and third heats.

The overall winner goes on an eight-day global bar tour to four cocktail cities of his/her choice and all 20 semi-finalists win a second trip to Amsterdam for brand ambassador training. Last year, the 12 finalists received great international exposure by delivering presentations, not only in their own countries, but also at international bar shows such as Berlin's Bar Convent and at a range of international Bols events.

Last year, Bols Around the World also broke records with entrants from 56 countries and this year it is breaking records again, becoming the widest spread bartending competition. Through social media, which is used for all competition communication, Bols has created a global platform for the bartending community, which has seen bartenders from 70 countries share recipes and inspiration whilst expanding their network.


In 2012, the Young Talent Programme, an exciting new category which invites bartenders LDA to 21 and under to compete with the world's best bartenders, was introduced to the competition. Following its success, the category also features in this year's competition giving Young Talent entrants the unique advantage of being guided by the Bols Bartending Academy Team so that their performance will be at its best throughout the heats.

For more information regarding the contest, please visit www.Bols.com. Follow the competition live at https://www.facebook.com/bolsbartending.