Kristen Thibeault of Le Cordon Blue College of Culinary Arts in Boston is the winner of the 11^th-annual S.Pellegrino Almost Famous Chef Competition. She competed in multiple cooking competitions for the accolades, proving excellence at The Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley, Calif.

Thibeault outshined nine competing peers from the United States and Canada with her signature dish, Porcini Crusted Vegan “Sweetbreads.” Her dish concept was formulated in October and had since been developed and refined, all toward the intense three-day competition. In addition to those in the kitchen, the front-of-house judge panel, Michelin Star and James Beard Foundation award-winning chefs—Tony Mantuano of Spiaggia; Rick Moonen of RM Seafood; Michel Richard of Citronelle; Mark McEwan of One; Susur Lee of LEE Restaurant; and Jean Joho of Everest—furthered the development of Thibeault through mentorship and critiques.

Throughout the weekend, all finalists were in the spotlight of culinary-focused media influencers, who also served as active judges, including Dana Cowin of Food & Wine, Betsy Andrews of Saveur, Mitchell Davis of The James Beard Foundation, Jacob Richler of Maclean’s and Sophie Gayot of gayot.com.

“The culinary industry is competitive and there is not a competition of this nature that exists for students,” said Mantuano. “It is really necessary to have a competition like this for our next generation of great chefs.”

Fourteen high-school students representing Technology Center of DuPage (TCD) in Addison, Ill., placed among the top 10 in five contests—including a 1-2-3 sweep in Commercial Baking—at the 2013 Illinois SkillsUSA Leadership and Skills Conference. The annual state championships were held April 11-13 in Springfield with more than 1,300 participants competing in nearly 100 contests.

TCD’s culinary students had a particularly strong showing. Three seniors swept the top spots in the Commercial Baking division: Jonathan Bedell of Naperville (first place), Christine Hood of Darien (second), and Christopher Reusz of Downers Grove (third). In the same contest, two more TCD seniors—Briana Wills of Lombard and Alan Topalovic of Woodridge—placed fifth and eighth, respectively.

Seventh-annual awards focus on thought-leadership values and why food matters.

The seventh-annual Leadership Awards—the Augies—from The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) were presented to four individuals who exemplify, in spirit and deed, the CIA’s four core value pillars:

• Honored for his dedication to professional excellence and innovation: Daniel Humm, executive chef, Eleven Madison Park and The NoMad Hotel, New York City

• Honored for creating restaurant menus that promote health and wellness: Clifford Pleau ’81, corporate executive chef, Seasons 52, Orlando, Fla.

• Honored for his contribution to the understanding of world cuisines and cultures: Rick Bayless, chef/owner, Frontera Grill, Topolobampo and Xoco, Chicago

One of Kendall College’s 14 commercial kitchens will annually recognize a great chef or cook.

Celebrity chef Rick Bayless was on hand April 12 to speak with students, faculty and staff as the Kendall College School of Culinary Arts in Chicago honored him with a dedication of the “Great Chefs Kitchen.” The commercial kitchen lab that has served culinary students since the Riverworks campus’ opening in 2005 will bear Bayless’ name for the inaugural year of this new program that will annually honor a chef who has significantly influenced and shaped American foodways.

In the foodservice realm, Bayless, owner of Frontera Grill, Topolobampo, Xoco and other well-known eateries in greater Chicago, is arguably America’s foremost expert on authentic regional Mexican cuisine. His PBS television series, “Mexico – One Plate at a Time,” along with his gourmet retail lines and award-winning cookbooks, have made Bayless a household name from coast to coast.

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.”

Dynamo Digest is a new component to the USHBC website.

The U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council has launched Dynamo Digest, a blog component to its website. The new blog at www.blueberrycouncil.org/foodservice/dynamo-digest aims to offer an extensive range of information, tips and advice from chefs and foodservice professionals. In association with “Little Blue Dynamos,” the blog's name also reflects the dynamic communications needed to match the ever-changing conditions of the foodservice industry.

Mark Villata, executive director of the USHBC, is excited about the initiative and what it has to offer. “There is a constant influx of information with which people in foodservice need to be kept up to speed,” he says. “Dynamo Digest will be a valuable resource for creative ways to use blueberries, and will go beyond that.” In addition to introducing ways to use various forms of blueberries like fresh, dried, frozen and liquid, the blog will also divulge insights from dietitians, chefs and foodservice professionals on topics such as produce news, school programs, menu trends and dining experiences.