How much more are consumers willing to pay for sustainable cuisine?

Consumers want and need to eat out, and the foodservice industry has a huge carbon footprint. Getting industry operators and consumers on the “green” bandwagon is necessary to minimize the impact that restaurants have on the environment in the future. But how willing are patrons to embrace this change?

According to a recent Mintel report, just more than half (57%) of respondents are willing to pay more for local and sustainable fare; however, the majority of those are only willing to pay a mere 1% to 5% more.

“Green and sustainable attributes pale in comparison to the leading restaurant decision drivers of menu selection, prices and convenient location,” says Eric Giandelone, foodservice director at Mintel. “However, these initiatives support the leading attributes to help a restaurant stand apart and will become more important as the green movement continues to progress.”

The Center for the Advancement of Foodservice Education (CAFÉ) is pleased to award its Endorsement Program seal to the Idaho Potato Commission (IPC) Foodservice Toolkit, a comprehensive teaching resource.

With the Idaho Potato Commission Foodservice Toolkit, foodservice educators and their students can explore how Idaho® potatoes win culinary accolades for performance and consistency and why leading chefs across the country insist on the “Grown in Idaho®” brand. Contents include Idaho potato history and propagation; scientific distinctions and specification/purchasing basics; potato-cooking chemistry and problem solving; preparation how-to and typical cooking yields; “Potato 101” knife and cutting skills; and a cost-per-serving calculator.

The American Culinary Federation Education Foundation (ACFEF), the educational arm of the American Culinary Federation (ACF), the premier professional organization for culinarians in North America, recently granted renewal Quality Program status to all Job Corps culinary training programs across the United States, a total of 87. Approval was awarded Oct. 19 and is valid for five years.

Culinary Institute of America (CIA) students Fareez Dossani and Jason Williams are the two most recent recipients of The Jones Dairy Farm Scholarship Fund at the CIA, said Philip Jones, sixth-generation president of Jones Dairy Farm and a professionally trained chef.

Established in May 2006, the Jones Dairy Farm Scholarship Fund supports three scholarships each year. CIA juniors and seniors pursuing baccalaureate degrees in Culinary Arts Management can apply for the scholarship by submitting a short essay and original recipe using a Jones’ product. Awards are restricted to students with a demonstrated financial need and grade-point average (G.P.A.) of 3.0 or higher.

The Kendall College School of Culinary Arts announces the addition of Chef Eric Stein, MS, RD, to its faculty. As an instructor specializing in culinary nutrition, Stein brings a contemporary cooking style to Kendall that emphasizes nutrient-rich foods and global flavor profiles.

“Kendall College proudly welcomes Chef Stein to our teaching family,” said Renee Zonka, RD, CEC, CHE, MBA, dean of the School of Culinary Arts. “He arrives at a time when interest from prospective students in our nutrition concentration has never been higher. Chef Stein’s wealth of experience teaching in this relatively new, timely and eminent field of study will continue to distinguish Kendall College as a leader in culinary education.”

Prior to arriving at Kendall, Stein spent a year working in the kitchens of the AAA Five Diamond Award-winning Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., where he enhanced his technical skills under Certified Master Chef Richard Rosendale. He has also served as Colorado’s state coordinator for the American Dietetic Association’s vegetarian practice group as well as on the board of advisors for Cooking Matters Colorado, a program under the auspices of Share Our Strength that empowers families with the skills, knowledge and confidence to prepare healthy and affordable meals.

Sullivan University’s National Center for Hospitality Studies (NCHS) honored Chef Colby Garrelts of bluestem Restaurant in Kansas City with the prestigious Distinguished Visiting Chef award on November 10. As recipient of the award, Garrelts presented on-campus cooking demonstrations, book signings and question-and-answer sessions held exclusively for Sullivan University students.

Designed to connect today’s aspiring culinarians with industry leaders, The Distinguished Visiting Chef Series has been recognizing three top chefs annually since its inception in 1988. Garrelts is the 41st recipient of the award, joining an impressive roster of chefs that includes Bob Kinkead, Emeril Lagasse, Louis Osteen, Rick Tramonto and Marcel Desaulniers.

Garrelts, who has been nominated several times for Best Chef Midwest by the James Beard Foundation and was named by Food & Wine magazine as one of the Top 10 Best New Chefs in 2005, obtained his culinary education in kitchens across the country. A native of Kansas City, Garrelts cooked at two prestigious private clubs, the famed American Restaurant, and the legendary Stolen Grill while attending culinary school. He developed a taste for big-city cuisine, small-business acumen and the aspiration to see what culinary experiences he could acquire in larger cities. With all of this on his mind, Garrelts moved to Chicago in 1999, where he became the senior sous chef at the five-star, five-diamond restaurant TRU under nationally acclaimed chefs Rick Tramanto and Gale Gand. At TRU, Garrelts honed his technical skills, developed his culinary style and met his future wife/partner Megan Schultz.

Sullivan University’s National Center for Hospitality Studies (NCHS) honored Chef Colby Garrelts of bluestem Restaurant in Kansas City with the prestigious Distinguished Visiting Chef award on November 10. As recipient of the award, Garrelts presented on-campus cooking demonstrations, book signings and question-and-answer sessions held exclusively for Sullivan University students.

Designed to connect today’s aspiring culinarians with industry leaders, The Distinguished Visiting Chef Series has been recognizing three top chefs annually since its inception in 1988. Garrelts is the 41st recipient of the award, joining an impressive roster of chefs that includes Bob Kinkead, Emeril Lagasse, Louis Osteen, Rick Tramonto and Marcel Desaulniers.

Garrelts, who has been nominated several times for Best Chef Midwest by the James Beard Foundation and was named by Food & Wine magazine as one of the Top 10 Best New Chefs in 2005, obtained his culinary education in kitchens across the country. A native of Kansas City, Garrelts cooked at two prestigious private clubs, the famed American Restaurant, and the legendary Stolen Grill while attending culinary school. He developed a taste for big-city cuisine, small-business acumen and the aspiration to see what culinary experiences he could acquire in larger cities. With all of this on his mind, Garrelts moved to Chicago in 1999, where he became the senior sous chef at the five-star, five-diamond restaurant TRU under nationally acclaimed chefs Rick Tramanto and Gale Gand. At TRU, Garrelts honed his technical skills, developed his culinary style and met his future wife/partner Megan Schultz.

Of the three things you can manage—cost, quality and quantity—you can realistically only manage two. Or so thought the Institute for the Culinary Arts at Metropolitan Community College     .

By James E. Trebbien, CCE, CCA

Omaha, according to some of the people who study such things, has more restaurants per capita than any other U.S. city. In addition to this amazing number of restaurants, the menu is varied, diverse, excellent and reasonably priced. The quality of the restaurants is excellent. As in most major metropolitan areas, to be a chef or restaurant manager in Omaha takes a lot of education and knowledge because of the competition, choices, culinary talent and business sophistication.

From social networking’s impact on success to a greater emphasis on in-house rustic fare to save cost, Technomic predicts the biggest influences on U.S. restaurants next year.

Just as the nation's economic forecast includes mixed signals, restaurants across the United States face a varied landscape of expected trends in 2012. Technomic, the leading foodservice research and consulting firm, sees these seven developments making news in the coming year:

1. Consumers Seek a Twist on the Familiar. Shell-shocked consumers are in no mood to take risks, but novel flavors still tingle their taste buds. Look for comfort foods with a twist (gourmet, ethnic, artisan, wood-fired) as well as innovation in familiar formats (sandwiches, wraps, pizza, pasta) rather than breakout items taken from less-familiar global cuisines.

The CIA’s recent Worlds of Flavor® International Conference & Festival examined the casualization of fine dining.

Dozens of leading chefs from all over the world shared their expertise about the growing role of casual food in different world cuisines at The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) at Greystone in St. Helena, Calif., November 3-5. “World Casual: The Future of American Menus” was the topic of the 14^th-annual Worlds of Flavor® International Conference & Festival held at the college’s Napa Valley campus.

Jose Garces, the James Beard Award-winning Ecuadorian-American chef who owns eight restaurants in Philadelphia and Chicago, provided examples of how to successfully translate world-casual concepts onto American menus. The Food Network Iron Chef led a workshop on the signature casual flavors of Mexico, Ecuador and Peru and gave a presentation about the next generation of Latin casual at a session moderated by Chef Rick Bayless, with CIA chef-instructor Iliana de la Vega as a fellow presenter.