By Wendy Gay, CHE

The day of the frumpy, inattentive waiter is gone. In the current economy, properly training wait staff has never been more important.

For most U.S. restaurants, this has been the roughest stretch in memory. Reports show that numbers are down in every part of the industry. Restaurant visits overall fell 1% in the quarter ending in June, marking the eighth consecutive quarterly drop. Experts predict it will take another year and a half to recover to pre-recession levels. While high-end restaurants are being hit the hardest, the effect is trickling down to every level. What are restaurants doing to increase their numbers? The answers are extremely important to every educator as we prepare future culinary professionals.

The two key elements garnering the most attention are affordability and experience. Restaurants at every level are finding creative ways to make their wares appear more affordable to get customers in their doors and then paying particular attention to the customer’s experience once they are there.

By Megan Wortman

From the American Lamb Board, a primer that covers everything from U.S. sheep production to menuing lamb.

Sheep are one of the world’s oldest domesticated animals, raised for fleece, meat (lamb or mutton) and milk. Not surprisingly, lamb remains prevalent in the diets and dining rooms of most every region and culture of the globe.

Now, more than ever, there is an interest in the manner our food is raised and the number of miles it must travel to get to our tables. The American sheep industry is committed to quality and epitomizes this local food movement.

• Do you love your career and the way in which you tie Culinology into the classroom or your daily work life?
• Have you overcome challenges as a student or working professional as a result of Culinology?
• Can you pinpoint a latest trend in Culinology?

In an effort to highlight the importance of Culinology, the blending of culinary arts and the science of food, the Research Chefs Association announces: My Culinology Experience. The RCA wants to hear from you. That's why the organization is putting on a search for the best video that spotlights your relationship to Culinology—its effect, its appeal, its challenges!

The Pathfinder Award recognizes leaders who are catalysts for change in the food industry beyond the kitchen. Chefs Collaborative is a nonprofit network of chefs that fosters a sustainable food system through advocacy, education and collaboration with the broader food community.

The Culinary Institute of America, in collaboration with the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) and Temasek Polytechnic, has announced that it will begin offering its Bachelor's Degree Program in Culinary Arts Management in Singapore early in 2011.

The new degree program is available exclusively to graduates of Polytechnic institutions who have earned their diplomas in Hospitality & Tourism Management, Leisure & Resort Management, or Culinary & Catering Management, as well as to other hospitality, tourism, and culinary diploma program graduates. To create the right facility for the program, Temasek Polytechnic worked with the CIA to design a new 30,000-square-foot educational facility that includes three professional teaching kitchens. The new CIA, Singapore campus building will be completed this October.

Chef John Castro is celebrating the arrival of the fall season with new menu items at Winston’s at Sullivan University in Louisville, Ky. The brunch, lunch and dinner menus have all been updated with innovative small plates, entrées and sandwiches. Several Winston’s classics, including the Not Brown and the Mojo Risin’, will remain on the menu. New dishes include the following:

Plugrá® European-Style Butter hosted Della Gossett, chef instructor at The French Pastry School at City Colleges of Chicago and former executive pastry chef of Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago, for a culinary demonstration at the American Culinary Federation (ACF) National Convention, Aug. 2-5 in Anaheim, Calif. During “Trade Secrets for Exquisite Plated Desserts,” the renowned pastry chef explored how to create innovative menu-enhancing desserts, drawing inspiration from fresh seasonal ingredients, classic recipes, and contemporary influences.

With a standing-room-only audience of chefs, educators and students, Gossett shared how a simple, traditional peach tart with brown butter and pecans can be transformed into a sophisticated plated dessert of seasonal peaches with brown butter ice cream and thyme. “The secret is in the basic elements of the tart—the peaches and the brown butter and pâte à foncer, or pie dough, made with Plugrá European-Style Butter,” she says. “Using those same elements, but with an inspired twist, the result is an inventive new dessert that is impactful both on the plate and on the tongue.”

By Faith Jennetta, CEPC

Don’t forget the most important part of the training process—helping students develop their critical-thinking and problem-solving skills.

Does your school have a culinary football team? At the Technology Center of DuPage (TCD), a high-school career and technical center in Addison, Ill., the answer is certainly yes. TCD participates in various approved culinary competitions through ProStart, Skills USA, local ACF chapters and even in-school scholarship-program competitions.

Principal Edward A. Susmilch likens the TCD culinary-competition teams to high-school football teams. Both help participants enhance their talents, professional behavior, team and leadership skills and scholarship opportunities. How can your school build a winning team?

By Lisa M. Ramsey, CEC

Educator winners of the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board’s 2010 healthy-cooking recipe contest through CAFÉ enjoyed a thorough and flavorful immersion in Wisconsin cheeses on tour.

The subject line of the email read “You’re All Winners!”, and of course that sparked my curiosity. A few weeks earlier I entered a contest for culinary educators asking us to create a healthy recipe using any type of Wisconsin cheese. Could it be? YES! I won along with 19 other educators from across the country and Canada. Within a few weeks we were whisked away to Madison, Wis. I found myself at Sardines standing in front of a table full of cheese and wine discussing recipes with several other educators. Our gracious hosts were Sara Hill from Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board and Mary Petersen from CAFÉ. They brought us together to celebrate and meet several cheesemakers and farmers. After a wonderful dinner and conversation, it was off to the hotel to rest up for three days’ full of tasting and touring.

Courtesy of the National Turkey Federation

Online resources from the turkey industry will help students better understand how to deliver customer satisfaction while contributing to a healthy bottom line amid a “perfect storm” of challenges for operators.

The lean economic times the foodservice industry is currently facing requires a careful evaluation of daily operational practices. Restaurateurs need to look for ways to trim costs, reduce waste and maintain a steady customer base in this environment of sharply higher commodity costs, soaring fuel prices and continued food price inflation. Meanwhile, restaurant guests are squeezing their own food budgets, and when they do dine out, they look for value on menus.