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The Chef’s Table
FSD talked with chefs from five school districts about upcoming trends, challenges and meeting the new meal regs.
On the scene: UMass Best Campus Food event
I was lucky enough to make the trip to Amherst, Mass., this week for the University of Massachusetts, Amherst-hosted Best Campus Food event. Ken Toong, executive director of auxiliary services, and his dining team invited five of The Princeton Review’s top 10 campus food departments to come to UMass and put on a special event.
Well, the first day of MenuDirections 2012, in Charleston, S.C., is in the book, and it went off without a hitch. From a lunch with foods prepared by nearly 20 sponsors to a Dine-Around at three of Charleston’s best-known restaurants, our 150 operator attendees were treated to one culinary delight after another.
In my tenure here at FoodService Director, I have had the opportunity to attend two educational programs that were either staged by or sponsored by food manufacturers. The first was the well-known Tyson University, and the second was the Chef Enrichment and Innovation Program, held at The Culinary Institute of America and sponsored by Hormel Foods.
I’m up in Amherst all this week attending the 17th annual Culinary Conference hosted by the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. More than 120 chefs, almost all from colleges and universities, gather to learn from restaurant chefs and from each other new ideas for bringing more flavor and value to their customers.
I had an interesting and engaging interview Monday morning with George Miller, retired U.S. Air Force veteran, current chief of food and beverage operations for the Air Force, and current IFMA Silver Plate winner in the Specialty Foodservice category. It was the kind of interview where you just turn on the tape recorder and sit back and listen.