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Dean Koetke Vies for Inaugural Pathfinder Award from Chefs Collaborative

Amber, Monday, August 30th, 2010 | Category: Around Town, Green | Permalink | Email this
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Congratulations to Chef Christopher Koetke, C.E.C., C.C.E., dean of the School of Culinary Arts! He’s a candidate for the first-ever Sustainability Awards presented by Chefs Collaborative based in Cambridge, Mass. Chefs Collaborative is the leading nonprofit network of chefs that fosters a sustainable food system through advocacy, education and collaboration with the broader food community.

Chefs Collaborative will honor a single individual in each of three categories during the organization’s awards dinner at Allandale Farm in Boston on Oct. 4. Koetke is a candidate for the Pathfinder award, which recognizes a visionary working in the greater food community who has been a catalyst for positive change within the food system through efforts that go beyond the kitchen.

Sustainability is woven throughout Kendall College’s curricula and the school’s operational practices. In 2007, Kendall was the recipient of the Green Award presented by Foodservice Consultants Society International (FCSI), the first ever presented to a culinary-training program. In 2008, thanks to Koetke’s leadership, Kendall expanded its sustainability commitment to provide education on this critical issue to the broader foodservice industry. Today, Koetke is a well-known expert on the subject and speaks frequently at regional and national industry conferences.

Here’s wishing Dean Koetke the best of luck! Click here for more information on Chefs Collaborative’s National Summit, Oct. 3-5 at Bunker Hill College in Boston.

School of Culinary Arts and CAFE Present 2010 Green Award

Amber, Friday, August 13th, 2010 | Category: Around Town, Green | Permalink | Email this
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Kendall College’s School of Culinary Arts and the Center for the Advancement of Foodservice Education (CAFÉ) presented the 2010 CAFÉ/Kendall Green Award to Faith Jennetta, program coordinator and baking instructor for the Technology Center of DuPage (TCD), a high school located in Addison, Illinois. The award was presented at the CAFÉ Leadership Conference held in Baltimore at the end of June.

The CAFÉ/Kendall Green Award is the first-ever, national award to recognize national secondary and postsecondary culinary arts and baking/pastry programs for their commitment to sustainability.

Chef Jennetta donated her $1,000 prize for the creation of a scholarship for a TCD student who wants to continue his or her education at Kendall College. Kendall College announced it will match the donation, bringing the total scholarship to $2,000.

Chef Jennetta was recognized for her tilapia aquaculture project at TCD. An interdepartmental learning experience that includes both culinary and landscape students, the program provides practical experience in aquaculture, fish butchery and cookery. The entire program is taught under the school’s guiding principle, “Be respectful of food, the environment and each other.”

Koetke Honored for Excellence in Teaching

Amber, Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 | Category: Around Town, Featured | Permalink | Email this
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A chocolate wall on which guests painted their names elicited oohs and ahs, as did lavish cheese, charcuterie and confection displays, a Thai station manned by culinary-arts students, and an ice “screen” on which images were projected. Steamed dumplings, sushi rolled on the spot and freshly made mojitos wowed guests, too. But, generating the most excitement the evening of February 14 in The Dining Room at Kendall College was the announcement that Chef Christopher Koetke, dean of The School of Culinary Arts, had received the inaugural Award for Excellence in Culinary Education from the Foodservice Educators Network International (FENI).

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Kendall Student Cooks His Way to (Almost) Fame

Amber, Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 | Category: Around Town, Featured | Permalink | Email this
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Brian Schreiber is almost famous. That’s because the School of Culinary Arts student won the 8th-Annual S.Pellegrino® Almost Famous Chef® North Central Regional Competition on January 22 at The International Culinary School at The Illinois Institute of Art Chicago.

Schreiber wowed the judges with his Bacon Wrapped Halibut Tournedos. After a grueling in-depth evaluation from the judging panel, he was crowned the North Central Regional winner during a lively tasting reception for local media and chefs.

Next for Schreiber is the finals competition to be held at The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in Napa Valley, California, March 5-8.
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Ryan Named WCR Educator of the Year

Amber, Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 | Category: Featured, Inside Kendall | Permalink | Email this
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Peggy Ryan, a culinary instructor in the School of Culinary Arts and daytime executive chef of   The Dining Room at Kendall College, was recently named 2009 Educator of the Year by Women Chefs & Restaurateurs (WCR). She will receive her award at the organization’s national conference at The Ritz-Carlton, Washington, D.C., on Nov. 3.

WCR’s Educator of the Year Award recognizes excellence in culinary education and honors a woman whose dedication to teaching is making a difference to the culinary community.

“She pushes her students to their greatest abilities, and then some,” says Christine Sathern, who nominated Ryan for the award and who is a teaching assistant pursuing her bachelor’s degree in culinary arts at Kendall. “Chef Ryan is my one true inspiration in this industry.”

Ryan was chef and owner of Va Pensiero in Evanston, Ill., before joining Kendall, and under her management, the restaurant received many outstanding reviews in Chicago and suburban newspapers, as well as Zagat. She relies on her strong background in Italian cooking to teach related electives at Kendall, including Italian Pastas, Cuisine of Italy and Cuisine of Tuscany.

With 31 years of culinary and management experience, Ryan brings a unique and well-rounded perspective to her teaching. “I impress upon students that you’re not going to be anything without customers,” she says.
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