Barnes Named New Head of Continuing Education at The Culinary Institute of America

Certified Master Chef and culinary industry veteran Brad Barnes ('87), CMC, CCA, AAC, has been named senior director of continuing education at The Culinary Institute of America (CIA).

Barnes previously served as senior director of culinary education at the CIA, where he helped restructure the associate-degree programs and played an integral part in the development and implementation of the new CIA Academic Delivery System.

Working from the school’s Hyde Park, N.Y., campus, Barnes will introduce innovations to the existing three-part curriculum in the department: Food Enthusiast classes, including Culinary Boot Camps and weekend classes; the ProChef® Certification program; and CIA Consulting, which offers creative marketing and menu solutions to the industry.

“We are very excited and gratified to have an esteemed alumnus such as Chef Barnes to lead our Continuing Education initiatives,” said CIA Provost Mark Erickson ('77), CMC. “His vision, enhanced by his high-profile culinary accomplishments, will be very effective in guiding the department into the next decade.”

“The Continuing Education Department is the public face of the CIA,” Barnes said. “My objective is to keep its offerings fresh and in line with advancements in the culinary industry. My strength is my professional culinary background; I speak the language of this field and will bring those skills to bear in course development and industry connectivity.”

CIA alumnus Barnes is the North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers (NAFEM) professor at the CIA. Before returning to his alma mater in 2009, Barnes was president of GigaChef, LLC, a consulting company for hotels and high-volume foodservice. He previously held executive-chef positions for a variety of establishments, including 64 Greenwich Avenue and Nancy Allen Rose Catering in Greenwich, Conn. Active in the American Culinary Federation, Barnes is chair of its Certified Master Chef Committee, a certified competition judge, and the recipient of several honors, including the ACF President’s Award. The co-author of three books, he served as coach for Culinary Team USA at the Internationale Kochkhunst Ausstellung (IKA) in 2000, 2004 and 2008.

ACF Partners with Indianapolis’ The Chef’s Academy to Offer Scholarships Totaling $20,000

High-school students seeking assistance with the rising cost of culinary school are in luck. The American Academy of Chefs (AAC), the honor society of the American Culinary Federation (ACF), the nation’s largest professional chefs organization, and The Chefs Academy (TCA), an ACFEF-accredited program in Indianapolis, are pleased to announce four new scholarships available for students accepted to TCA, totaling $5,000 over four years.

“ACF is thrilled to be working with TCA to provide scholarships that will help mold tomorrow’s culinary leaders,” said Rajeev Patgaonkar, CEC, AAC, ACFEF AAC Scholarship Committee chair. “This partnership shows that TCA is dedicated to helping students achieve their goals. We hope that high school students will look into the scholarship requirements and submit their applications by the April 30 deadline. 

 

Four yearly scholarships of $625 per academic term for four years will be awarded and applied directly to students’ accounts at TCA. Scholarships are available for high-school students who have been accepted to TCA and plan on becoming a chef. Applications are available at www.acfchefs.org/scholarships and are due April 30 of each year. Scholarship money will be applied in the fall semester. The AAC Scholarship Committee will select the 2012 winners in June.

“We are proud to partner with the American Culinary Federation,” said Jayson Boyers, national division president at The Chef’s Academy. “Our organizations share a deep commitment to educating the culinary leaders of the future and these scholarships will be tremendously appreciated by students looking for assistance in achieving their dream to become a chef.”

Who is eligible?
• Exemplary students who have maintained a cumulative GPA of 2.50 or higher during their senior year
• High-school seniors eligible to graduate the same year as the scholarship is applied for
• Students who are currently accepted to TCA with a major in culinary or pastry arts
• Those with a career goal of becoming a chef or pastry chef

What do I need to apply?
• Completed application and essay
• Two letters of recommendation from industry culinary professionals and/or culinary educators
• Sealed final official transcript showing current GPA

The American Academy of Chefs offers educational scholarships to high=school students entering culinary school, as well as to those currently attending culinary school. The scholarships are given throughout the year to qualified applicants who meet a strict set of requirements. These scholarships help young culinarians achieve their educational goals. Last year, the AAC, through its partnerships, distributed $46,000 in scholarship funds to culinary students. In addition to TCA, AAC also currently offers scholarships to Johnson & Wales University and The Culinary Institute of America.

Deadline for 2012 FENI Educator of the Year Award Nominations Is January 9

Two foodservice educators, one representing secondary education and one representing postsecondary, will be named the 2012 FENI Educators of the Year. 

Each award recipient will receive a commemorative plaque and a $250 grant.

FENI welcomes awards sponsor Robot Coupe U.S.A. For more than 30 years, Robot Coupe U.S.A. has been the foodservice-industry leader in the development and refinement of commercial food processors and vegetable-preparation units.

 

NEW in 2012: Nominees need NOT be present at the 2012 FENI Educators Summit in Chicago to be eligible. Award recipients will be announced at the Award of Excellence Reception on Saturday, February 11, at the Hotel Allegro. Award recipients who are not present will receive their plaques and checks by mail. Both recipients will receive full media-relations support from Talcott Communications Corp.

2012 CATEGORIES/ELIGIBILITY
1. High-School Educator: Any high-school instructor of a culinary-arts or nutrition program that leads to a diploma or certificate (minimum 1,000 hours of teaching experience).
2. Postsecondary Educator: Any instructor who teaches culinary arts or nutrition in a non-high-school program that leads to a degree or certificate (minimum 1,000 hours of teaching experience).

Note: You may nominate yourself for this award. Previous nominators, applicants and winners are eligible to apply. The deadline for all nominations is January 9, 2012 (postmarked). All who apply will be contacted via e-mail or phone regarding their status prior to the 2012 FENI Summit in Chicago.

For complete information on FENI’s Educator of the Year Award program for 2012 and to download a nomination form, visit www.fenisummit.com.
For registration questions, contact Naurice Olivera at nolivera@talcott.com or (800) 229-1967, ext. 233.

Click HERE to view the complete FENI program including Master Classes!

The FENI Summit is brought to you by:

Daniel von Rabenau, FENI Executive Director
Produced by Chef Educator Today magazine and Talcott Communications Corp.

Kendall College School of Culinary Arts Student Wins Weeklong Culinary Excursion to Taiwan

Kendall College School of Culinary Arts student Tayler Moore, a 20-year old sophomore pursuing his bachelor’s degree in culinary arts, won an all-expenses-paid weeklong trip to experience the foods and flavors of Taiwan in the first cookoff of its kind at Kendall College on Dec. 12. The competition, hosted by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Chicago, highlighted the official launch of Taiwan’s Government Information Office’s multilingual Web site (http://taiwanfoodculture.net) celebrating Taiwan’s diverse foodways. Moore’s winning dish featured a chicken thigh fabricated to resemble a lollipop.

“I feel blessed,” said an excited Moore when his win was announced. “I can’t wait to go to Taiwan.” Prior to the cookoff, Moore spent considerable hours researching Taiwanese cooking online, and developed a few possible entries before ultimately choosing “Taiwanese-Style Three Cup Chicken.” The dish’s name comes from Moore’s use of a cup each of soy sauce, dry sherry and sesame oil, seasoned for depth and balance and reduced to create a rich sauce. For the judges, Moore presented the chicken-thigh “lollipop” over a bed of pickled mustard greens, spooned sauce over the chicken, and crowned the dish with a vinaigrette-dressed salad of Thai basil and cilantro. A drizzle of chili oil finished the presentation.

(l. to r.) Ger, Tsai, Moore, Mei-chuan Chen (executive press officer, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago), Koetke. Courtesy of Kendall College/Eric Futran.

Competing Kendall students had 90 minutes to prepare four portions of their entries, which were evaluated on flavor and proper seasoning, plate presentation, texture/mouthfeel and proper doneness. Although encouraged to elevate homestyle dishes and typical Taiwanese street foods to make them marketable within a fine-dining setting, students were instructed to strive for authenticity of cooking methods and ingredients use. So impressed were judges with the overall caliber of entries that the top four dishes scored within a mere two-point spread. (Two students tied for second place; the third-place student scored two points below Moore.)

Judging the cookoff were Baushuau Ger, director general of TECO in Chicago; Christopher Koetke, CEC, CCE, executive director of the Kendall College School of Culinary Arts and vice president of Laureate International Universities Center of Excellence in Culinary Arts; and Meilie Tsai of the Taiwan School in Lombard, Ill. Tsai, who will chaperone Moore in Taiwan during his weeklong culinary excursion, worked with competing Kendall College students weeks in advance of the cookoff to instruct on basic principles of classic and contemporary Taiwanese cooking.

“Here at Kendall, we are totally committed to the education of our students, and this kind of competition is amazing for a lot of reasons,” Koetke said. “We work with governments around the world, and the government of Taiwan suggested that a culinary competition would encourage students to learn more about Taiwanese cuisine. Every student in this cookoff took that challenge very seriously. Although only one student will go to Taiwan, everyone learned a lot, and that makes them all winners.”