FoodService Director’s third annual FSD Culinary Council Chefs' Summit brought together several of noncommercial’s top chefs for three days filled with farm-to-table dinners, menu ideation and local business tours. Here’s an inside look at the event, which was held at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
The summit kicked off with a welcome from FoodService Director Executive Vice President and Publisher Bill Anderson as well as presentations from sponsors Hormel, Potatoes USA, J.R. Simplot and the United Sorghum Checkoff. Michigan Dining Director Steve Mangan also gave a quick tour of the university’s South Quad Dining Hall, where the chefs would create new menu items the following day.
That evening, Michigan Catering hosted a farm-to-table dinner at the school’s campus farm. Attendees got a quick tour of the farm before settling down for a locally sourced meal inside the farm’s straw bale house, which was built by students.
The following day, Mangan and Keith Soster, Michigan Dining’s director of student and community engagement, sustainability and training and development,shared how their dining team is meeting its sustainability goalsand what other initiatives they’re working on.
During the kitchen ideation, the chefs split up into four teams and rotated through each of the four sponsor stations. Each team had 50 minutes to come up with at least one recipe using a sponsor’s product.
The final day of the summit was spent touring local farms and businesses, including Argus Farm Stop, a year-round farmers market that sells local produce and artisan products. Attendees then traveled to a nearby farm, where owner Dale Kapp gave a tour and shared how he processes his own apples, cider and honey.
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