JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort chefs win National Pastry Team Championship

By

After 13 hours of impassioned preparation and meticulous presentation, executive pastry chef Kaushik Chowdhury, of JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa, led his team to win the 2009 National Pastry Team Championship, held July 6–7 at the resort.

Chowdhury (pictured above with one of the team's showpieces) along with team members Melynda Gilmore and Keith Taylor, the resort's pastry supervisors, won the $30,000 first-place cash award and advanced as Team USA in the 2010 World Championship. In addition to the grand prize, Team Chowdhury took the top award for Best Taste and Flavor.

"It was an honor just to be selected to compete," Chowdhury said in a recent press release. "Winning the national championship is an incredible triumph. Winning the national championship in our hometown right here at our own resort is icing on the cake."

The National Pastry Team Championship is held during odd numbered years. Professional pastry chefs living and working in the United States must submit credentials and achievements to be selected to compete. Eight teams of three participated in the 2009 event. Each team was required to make a sugar showpiece, a chocolate showpiece, and entremet (cake), an entremet glacè (frozen dessert), three types of chocolate bonbons, a plated dessert and a chef's specialty creation. The theme was "Time."

Chowdhury's Team USA will compete in the 2010 World Pastry Team Championship in July 2010 at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa.
0 comments
Labels: ,

SOS to hold third Great American Dine Out webinar

By

On Aug. 5 from 4 to 4:30 p.m. EST, Share Our Strength's Great American Dine Out will host the third of a series of summer webinars to provide strategies and ideas for restaurant operators who want to participate in the dine out for charity, which takes place from Sept. 20 to 26.

The Great American Dine Out is a week-long, nationwide event in which participating restaurants donate a portion of proceeds to help end childhood hunger in America. It is a flexible program, meaning operators can decide how they want to implement and promote it.

In the upcoming webinar, two executives from Buffalo Wild Wings--July Shoulak, senior vice president of operations, and Laura Rutten, director of marketing--will lead an online panel discussion. Click here to register for the webinar.
0 comments
Labels: , ,

A chef's granola recipe helps fight breast cancer

By

Chef Michael Garahan created chefsformammograms, a Web site that sells bags of Garahan's famous granola and generates a $2 donation from each sale to help fund mammograms at Ocean Medical Center in Brick, N.J. Garahan started the site in honor of his mother Delores, who died from breast cancer in 1976 just before Garahan graduated from the Culinary Institute of America.

Chefsformammograms is also holding a ChefsPKG recipe contest for members of the hospitality industry who have been unemployed at any point during 2009. Participants must create recipes using the entire contents of at least four packages, plus no more than seven more ingredients. Judging will be based on taste, ease of preparation and originality. First prize is $1,000, though the amount will increase with each banner ad placed on chefsformammograms.com. Second prize is $250 and third prize is $100. For more information, visit www.chefsformammograms.com.
0 comments
Labels: , ,

July 2009 Chef digital edition now available

By

The digital edition of the July 2009 issue of Chef Magazine is now online through the Chef Web site. This digital edition features all the same great content as the print edition, plus online exclusives for more breakfast recipes and Party Planner: Cross-menuing. To access the issue, click the icon below. You can also register on the Chef Web site to receive e-mail notification when each new digital magazine is available for viewing.
Look Inside >>
July 2009
0 comments
Labels:

Industry Voices

By

"The logistics of planning a restaurant are challenging enough. But in 2005, Natasha (my wife and restaurant manager) and I were recruited by the owners of The Inn at Ocean’s Edge in midcoast Maine. They wanted us to create a stand-alone restaurant on The Inn grounds that complemented the character of this unique seaside resort property for guests and would also be a destination for locals—an interesting challenge for any chef."
--Bryan Dame, executive chef, Inn at Ocean’s Edge
and The Edge restaurant, Lincolnville, Maine,
"Industry Voices" column, July 2009, Chef Magazine
Continue reading Industry Voices >>
July 2009

Share your thoughts in the comments section.
0 comments
Labels:

Atlanta-based chef now hosting radio show on grilling and road food

By

Brian Whitcomb, Atlanta-based district chef for the southeastern division of Eurest (Compass Group Americas) of Charlotte, N.C., has teamed up with Web radio station Garage 71 for "Road Kill Side Show." The show will be geared toward the "grill master" and will discuss some of Whitcomb's favorite topics--from food techniques and cooking secrets to the next best place to go visit for some good food to even politics, motorcycles, hot rods and sports. The show airs every Wednesday from 8 to 10 p.m.

For more information and to listen live to Chef Brian Whitcomb, visit www.garage71.com and www.roadkillsideshow.com.

Chef Brian Whitcomb
1 comments
Labels:

Lamb Weston partners with restaurants in Washington for free fries giveaway

By

In a first-ever promotion of its kind, ConAgra Foods' Lamb Weston and participating restaurants in the Tri-Cities, Wash., area gave away more than 25,000 servings of french fries to local residents on July 24 during Free Fries Fryday. The promotion kicked off the community's annual Tri-City Water Follies and Lamb Weston Columbia Cup Hydroplane Race weekend.

Working with 35 local independent and chain restaurant locations, the company provided its quality french fry products to the eateries to serve for free throughout the day. From local hamburger favorites to national chain fast-food restaurants to sports bars and hotel restaurants, thousands of residents walked in or drove through and enjoyed a total of 25,200 free servings of fries.

In addition to satisfying thousands of Tri-Cities residents with terrific french fries, Free Fries Fryday boosted local restaurant business and helped to tie the local restaurant community to the Water Follies event.

"Lamb Weston has been an official sponsor of the Water Follies Columbia Cup for three years now, and this year we really wanted to reach out to the community in a new and bigger way," Jeff DeLapp, president of Lamb Weston, said in a press release. "We have more than 4,000 employees who live and work here in the Columbia Basin and many of the products we make in our facilities here are enjoyed by restaurant patrons throughout the Tri-Cities area, as well as restaurants and foodservice operations around the world. We know that people love fries, but we really didn’t know what to expect, so we're very pleased this was such a big success for our customers and our community," he added.

"No question about it, we did see an increase in traffic in all three of our stores. We sold more of everything…we saw a 20 percent bump in business, particularly at the lunch hour," Mike Scott, owner of Bruchi's Cheesesteaks and Subs, said in a press release.

For a complete list of participating restaurants and more information on Free Fries Fryday, visit www.freefriesfryday.com.
0 comments
Labels: