WCR seeks Educator of the Year nominations

Women Chefs & Restaurateurs is now accepting nominations for the annual Educator of the Year Award. The deadline for nominations is Sept. 28.

The award honors a woman whose dedication to teaching is making a difference to the culinary community. A committee of culinary professionals will evaluate all entries and select WCR's 2010 Educator of the Year, based on the career and accomplishments of each nominee. Recipients will be honored during the 2010 National Conference Women Who Inspire Awards Gala on Nov. 7 in Pasadena, Calif.

Click here to make a nomination.

Ecole de Cuisine Pasadena to host Couscous Festival

Ecole de Cuisine Pasadena, a culinary school specializing in French international cuisine in Pasadena, Calif., will host the First Annual Couscous Festival Oct. 16 and 17 at the Chefs Center of California to educate professionals and gourmets about North African and Mediterranean cuisines.

Special guest speakers include Mediterranean and North African food expert Paula Wolfert, Clifford Wright, author of Little Foods of the Mediterranean (Harvard Common Press, 2003) and A Mediterranean Feast (William Morrow Cookbooks, 1999), and Faye Levy, author of The International Jewish Cookbook (Warner Books, 1991).

For more information, visit www.couscousfestival.com.

Healthy Dining launches restaurant nutrition resource

In partnership with the National Restaurant Association (NRA) and founding sponsor American Express, Healthy Dining launched an online nutrition resource for foodservice called "Restaurant Nutrition: News & Insights for the Foodservice Industry."

"Restaurant Nutrition: News & Insights" features a variety of content on nutrition issues affecting the industry today, with topics such as complying with new menu labeling regulations, reducing sodium, calories and fat, improving the healthfulness of kids' meals, offering a gluten-free menu, and capitalizing on growing wellness trends. The new resource also features weekly interviews with industry executives and marketing and culinary leaders. The first interview is with NRA president and CEO Dawn Sweeney.

"Restaurant Nutrition: News & Insights" can be found at www.healthydiningfinder.com/operators and at www.restaurantnutrition.com.

Online extras for Autumn CET

• Extended Q&A with Bay Arenac ISD Career Center's Andy Bacigalupo
• Career search, expanded
  

New CIA podcast examines food industry jobs

In the latest "Insight from the Inside" podcast, Culinary Institute of America (CIA) instructor and author Irena Chalmers and CIA career development manager Ron Hayes discuss the exciting possibilities for people who want to make a career in food and hospitality.

Chalmers is the author of Food Jobs: 150 Great Jobs for Culinary Students, Career Changers and Food Lovers (Beaufort Books, 2008), which won a 2009 World Cookbook Award. In the podcast, she explains that the possibilities are endless when it comes to finding a job in the food industry for those who have the passion. "The food world is constantly changing and expanding," she says. "The diversity of jobs really is a question of looking into one's own heart and saying, 'What would I really love to do?'"

Hayes, a 2002 CIA graduate, says he didn't see himself with a "food job" of helping others find their niche. "I'm now working with a lot of people who graduated in the mid-'90s who are at a point in their career where [they say], 'I've elevated myself. Now where do I go from here?'"

"Insight from the Inside" features CIA graduates with exciting jobs in the food industry. Past podcasts have featured industry names including Grant Achatz, Nate Appleman, John Besh and Charlie Palmer. To download the 23-minute podcast featuring Chalmers and Hayes, visit www.ciachef.edu/podcasts/#jobs.

The Chef's Academy names regional president

The Chef's Academy, the culinary division of Harrison College, has named Jayson M. Boyers regional president. Boyers (pictured) is charged with heading up both the Indianapolis and Triangle, Ind., campuses.

Before joining The Chef's Academy, Boyers most recently was a disbursement specialist at American United Life Insurance Co. in Indianapolis.

For more information about The Chef's Academy, visit www.thechefsacademy.com.

Kendall dean teaches educators about sustainability

During the American Culinary Federation (ACF) National Convention last month in Anaheim, Calif., Christopher Koetke, CEC, CCE, dean of the Kendall College School of Culinary Arts and vice president of culinary arts for Laureate International Universities network, presented a sustainability master class to foodservice educators. The class was designed to help educators integrate sustainability throughout their curriculum and operations to make sustainable practices integral to their students' daily lives.

Christopher Koetke, dean of Kendall College School of Culinary Arts, addresses attendees of sustainability master class during the ACF National Convention

The class featured units on teaching energy and water conservation, waste stream reduction, green building and the complexities of sustainable food. The interactive session included group activities and several exercises that educators can adapt to their own classroom, including an energy and water audit of a commercial kitchen, learning games that increase interest and enthusiasm and specific activities for each area of sustainability.

Kendall College launched its sustainability education initiative for working foodservice professionals and educators in 2008 and is an official educational partner of the National Restaurant Association's Conserve: Solutions for Sustainability initiative.