Find answers to hot (and cold) potato questions at dr.idahopotato.com.

The Dr. Potato Blog, the Idaho Potato Commission’s (IPC) popular resource for frequently asked questions about the state’s top crop, now has its own address. For answers to puzzling ingredient, technique and menu queries about Idaho^® potatoes, the Doctor is in at dr.idahopotato.com. Even better, operators, educators and students will find useful tips for maximizing the appeal and profitability of Idahopotato offerings.

Don Odiorne, IPC vice president-foodservice and Idaho potato-industry veteran, applies his practical and culinary experience to each response. His current posts tackle timely topics like healthy Idaho potato-menu options, the best internal temperature for a baked Idaho potato and techniques for baking 50 Idahopotatoes at a time.

Submit an Idaho potato question to Dr. Potato at dr.idahopotato.com. To browse the Idaho Potato Commission’s foodservice-recipe database, “Passionate About Potatoes” foodservice ad campaign, and shippers and processor directory, or to download the Idaho Potato Commission Foodservice Toolkit, visit foodservice.idahopotato.com.

To order a “Passionate About Potatoes” chef recipe set, email the Idaho Potato Commission at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call (208) 334-2350.

A significant profit center in any foodservice operation is energy efficiency and savings.

By Jay Fiske

As the economy and the foodservice industry appear to be gaining steam, are you prepared to reap the full benefit? While operators are conditioned to keep a tight rein on food and labor costs, when it comes to overhead, many throw up their hands in frustration and resignation. You might not be able to change the terms of your lease or rising property taxes, but with a few easy actions, you can control much of your energy destiny.

Best of all, every energy dollar saved is pure profit. For an operation with an 8% profit margin, you’d have to increase sales by $12.50 to add just one dollar in profits. To keep that in perspective, if you cut $500 a month in energy expense, that adds an additional profit of $6,000 per annum. To generate that profit in the traditional way, you’d have to increase sales by $75,000. So there’s not a moment to lose!

As cooks, we exist to express ourselves, learn and work together as a team and produce some amazing art that people in the dining room will eat, smell and enjoy.

By Paul Sorgule, MS, AAC

To some it may be a job, a means to an end. Yes, there are those who work in kitchens simply to pay the bills. This is not true of the people with whom I strove to work and hired for the kitchens in which I was privileged to work.

When you stop to think about it, there is something truly magical about working in a professional kitchen. I have often said that most serious cooks are frustrated artists—individuals who have this innate artistic ability that is simply looking for a vehicle of expression. Some are writers, painters, sculptors, bloggers, musicians or even poets. Few are outgoing enough to have an interest in the live performing arts, so their goal is to find a place where they can be expressive behind closed doors. Ah … the kitchen, what a perfect place.

Once they find their way into that cross between the cleanliness of a surgical room and intensity and heat of Dante’s Inferno, they are hooked. Just think of the advantages for the artist: an environment where every day you get to paint on your canvas (the plate), use a plethora of exciting raw materials, appeal to every human sense simultaneously, earn a paycheck, work with other driven artists, learn from a teacher (the chef), and receive instant feedback for your work (although many cooks could care less as long as they feel that the work is an expression of who they are).

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.