American Culinary Federation’s Greater Atlanta Chapter hosted two major events recently, the 2011 President’s Gala and the Southeast Regional Conference. (To view pictures from the Southeast Regional Conference, click here).

The President’s Gala was held at the Druid Hills Golf Course in early February and featured an awards presentation.  Listed below are the award winners.

Chef of the Year – Jonn Nishiyama
Pastry Chef of the Year – Natasha Capper, CEPC
Educator of the Year – John Kanadu, CGMC CEC CCE
Student Chef of the Year – Daniel Gorman
Humanitarian of the Year – Rusty Sigmon, CSC
Vendor of the Year – Schwan’s Food Service
Presidential Award of the Year – John Szymanski, CEC CFSP

Later in the month, the Greater Atlanta chapter hosted the Southeast Regional Conference at the Hilton Atlanta. The weekend-long event included educational seminars, cooking demonstrations by several noteworthy Atlanta chefs, a Casino Night and dinner at the Cherokee Town and Country Club.  Award recipients during the event are listed below.

ACF Southeast Region Chef of the Year Award Winner
Keith Armstrong, executive chef, Greenwich Country Club, Greenwich, Conn

ACF Southeast Region Pastry Chef of the Year Award Winner
Kyongran “Alex” Hwang, assistant pastry chef, Cherokee Town and Country Club

ACF Southeast Region Chef Educator of the Year Winner
Michael Carmel, CEC, CCE, department head, Culinary Institute of Charleston, Trident Technical College, Charleston, S.C.

ACF Southeast Region Student Chef of the Year Award Winner
Keith Schwock, line cook, Cherokee Town and Country Club, Atlanta

ACF Southeast Region Chef Professionalism Award Winner
Russell Scott, CMC, WGMC, executive chef, Isleworth Golf & Country Club, Windermere, Fla.

ACF Southeast Region Hermann G. Rusch Chef’s Achievement Award Winner
Costa Magoulas, CEC, CCE, CCA, AAC, dean, School of Hospitality and Culinary Management, Daytona State College, Daytona Beach, Fla.

ACF Southeast Region Student Team Regional Championship Winner
ACF Western North Carolina Culinary Association; Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, Asheville, N.C.; Charles deVries, CEPC, coach

ACF Southeast Region Baron H. Galand Culinary Knowledge Bowl Winner
Culinary Institute of Savannah at Savannah Technical College, Savannah, Ga.; Jocelyn Brantley, Cassandra M. Gillmore, Claudia C. Harper, Joshua A. Lopez, Angela N. Real and coach Valarie Barnes

ACF Southeast Region Chapter of the Year
ACF Central Florida Chapter, Orlando, Fla.

ACF Southeast Region President’s Medallions
Chief Warrant Officer 4 (CW4) Russell Campbell, CEC, chief for the Advanced Food Service Training Division, U.S. Army, Fort Lee, Va.
Keith Gardiner, CEC, CCE, CCA, AAC, chef-instructor, Guilford Technical Community College, Jamestown, N.C.
Patricia Lucardie, chapter administrator, ACF Tampa Bay Culinary Association, Inc., Tampa; ACF Tampa Bay Culinary Association, Inc.
Michael Osborne, CEC, general manager/executive chef, Manchester Coffee County Conference Center, Manchester, Tenn.

Cutting Edge Awards
Clyde “Jay” Christmas, executive chef, Hope Valley Country Club, Durham, N.C.
Delores “Dee” Lennox, executive chef/owner/vice president, Lennox Catering, Sunrise, Fla.
Garrett Sanborn, CEC, CCE, Ed.D., chef-instructor, Oldham County Board of Education, Bucknor, N.Y.

Joseph Amendola Outstanding Member Award
Bryan Frick, CEC, AAC, corporate executive chef, Nestlé Professional, Orlando, Fla.

Paella, Please!
Christopher McCook, CEC, AAC, executive chef, Athens Country Club, Athens, Ga.

Muss & Turner’s announced that David Sturgis has taken over the role of Chef de Cuisine for the Smyrna-based restaurant.

Sturgis opened the restaurant as the original Chef de Cuisine. In a statement released February 8, the restaurant’s sixth anniversary, owner Ryan Turner welcomed Sturgis back to his old stomping ground and noted that: “David’s commitment to making people happy with food is unmatched. He will be cultivating relationships with vendors and farmers to bring guests all the highest quality, freshest, authentic and most unique culinary experience possible. He is one of the most gifted cooks we know and if you have not had his food, get excited.”

After culinary school at Art Institute of Atlanta, Sturgis became friends with Todd Mussman and Ryan Turner while working at Fifth Group Restaurants. When Mussman and Turner left that operation to open M&T’s, Sturgis went along with them. In late 2006, he left Atlanta to become Executive Chef at Farm 255 in Athens. Most recently, he spent two months at Local Three helping Chef Chris Hall.

With a background in pastry, having studied under Gary Scarborough (now pastry chef at Local Three), Sturgis admits that he thinks about food and its presentation a little bit differently than other chefs might. “I’m very ingredient focused and I think I look at things backwards sometimes. It’s almost sarcastic from time to time, but I have to say I don’t think anyone really cooks like I do.”

So far, the response to Sturgis’s return to M&Ts has been very positive. Regular patrons remember and welcome him back and are genuinely happy that he has returned. Chef Ryan Hidinger remains in the kitchen in the mornings at M&Ts as a Sous Chef, while Mussman is spending time at both Local Three and M&Ts particularly focusing on his charcuterie program.

The 2011 Southeast Regional Conference, hosted by ACF Greater Atlanta Chapter, Inc., is taking place at the Hilton Atlanta, February 18–21. Chefs, students and foodservice professionals from around the Southeast will gather for a weekend of education, competitions, networking and entertainment.

Educational sessions will showcase international cuisines of Greece, Japan, Italy, Germany and Morocco. In addition to international cuisine, this year’s educational offerings also highlight the important role of nutrition, with seminars on grains, fiber and gluten intolerance, sodium and balancing protein. There also will be sessions on beer-and-cheese pairing, coffee, pastry arts, composing flavors and plating techniques.

During one of the sessions, Chef Kevin Rathbun of Rathbun’s, Krog bar and Rathbun’s Steak, will discuss menuing techniques for each of his distinct establishments, including small plates, large menu variety, global thinking and meeting mass appeal.

There are evening events planned, as well. The ACF Greater Atlanta Chapter is offering Casino Night on Saturday, February 19.

For a complete list of events during the Southeast Regional Conference and registration information, go to ACF Southeast Regional Conference.

For thousands of people, food allergies are a very real danger. One bite of something containing an allergen – or merely coming in contact with an allergen – could be fatal.

There are many tragic stories of allergy sufferers who died after consuming even a trace of allergen, and it’s not enough to say they should have been more careful. In this age of convenience and rush, allergy sufferers face a uniquely grave problem. Even when allergic individuals carefully read food labels, share allergy concerns with friends and with food service workers, carry epinephrine injections, conscientiously avoid all foods known to contain the allergen, and wear medic alert bracelets, there is still the ominous awareness that every bite of food could be their last.

The food manufacturing industry historically has made little effort to provide reliable and consistent information concerning allergens, and it has taken accounts like that of Christina Desforges, a young teenager with a peanut allergy, who died after kissing her boyfriend who had consumed peanut butter hours earlier to really make the industry take note of the issue.

Thankfully, the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA) took effect in 2006. This act requires food labels to have clear statements concerning the presence of the eight major food allergens (see sidebar).

While the food manufacturing industry is rising to meet the challenge of removing the risks for allergy sufferers, our food service industry is only slowly waking up to the need for change. Restaurateurs have an equally important responsibility and should design training programs for staff, provide accurate ingredient information to customers, and overall, support the trend toward making the world safer for those who suffer from food allergies.

Allergy Basics
A food allergy is an exaggerated response by the immune system to a specific food or groups of foods. Some reactions are mild, while others are life threatening. The body reacts to the food as if it is a foreign invader and mobilizes antibodies, which causes inflammation and other adverse reactions.

Some people have just one allergy, while others have several. Some have mild to moderate reactions such as dermatitis or inflammation around the mouth while others may experience anaphylaxis after coming into contact with a mere trace of an allergen. For individuals with mild allergies, allergic reactions can occur 4 to 6 hours after ingestion of a specific food, while other reactions may take more than 6 hours for the development of any adverse reaction or condition. However, the amount that may be eaten before symptoms appear is usually very small and varies with each individual.

In fact, in very sensitive individuals, the amount of an allergen that can trigger a reaction can be less than a milligram, which is evidenced by the fact that many individuals have experienced reactions from mere traces of an allergen. Furthermore, of the eight foods that have been identified to be the cause of the vast majority of reactions, peanuts and tree nuts cause the most severe reactions, and, according to one allergist, “most, if not all peanut allergies are considered potentially anaphylactic.” The only treatment for food allergies is avoidance of the problem food(s). Thankfully, many children outgrow allergies to milk, eggs, wheat and soy, but allergies to peanuts, tree nuts and shellfish tend to be life-long.

Numbers and Statistics
An estimated 11 million Americans suffer from food allergies, which amounts to 2% of the adult population and 6-8% of children in the United States. (To put that figure in perspective, there are 11.6 million employees in the restaurant industry.)  Eleven million means that 1 in 25 people in America are suffering from food allergies.  While that is a staggering proportion, research provided by the Food and Drug Administration reveals that approximately 90% of food allergies are caused by the big eight. Despite the fact that these eight foods account for the vast majority of food allergies, reactions are widespread and hard to prevent because nuts, milk, eggs, and wheat are so commonly used in food manufacturing and often are labeled in inappropriate or misleading ways.  For patrons of restaurants that use any kind of manufactured item in their production, the risk of facing an allergen is present.  Likewise, restaurateurs should realize that unless every item on the menu is made completely from scratch with pure ingredients, or unless precise information about store-bought ingredients is known, there is the risk that an allergic patron could have a reaction.

When one considers that approximately half of the American food budget is spent on meals away from home, and the average American eats 198 meals out a year, it is clear that the risk of having someone experience a reaction in your establishment is worth considering.

Even though not all anaphylactic reactions are fatal, they almost always result in emergency room visits. According to the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, food allergy is the most frequent single cause of emergency room visits for anaphylaxis and accounts for 34 to 52 percent of such emergency room visits. In addition, anaphylactic shock as a result of food allergies kills, by some estimations, 150 to 200 people every year.

Food allergies appear to be on the rise, particularly in children. The most common allergy in children is the peanut allergy, and more than one million Americans are severely allergic to nuts.  What is most alarming to the restaurant industry are those statistics that directly reflect allergic reactions in restaurants.  According to a 2001 fatality survey conducted by the Food and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN), 47 percent of food-allergy deaths occurred in restaurants, and one-third of allergic respondents to the 2004 FAAN survey experienced reactions from food provided by restaurants.

Responsibility and Risk
The fast pace of restaurants necessitates efficient communication and quick responses, but a human life is always worth an extra consideration.  Even though the threat of causing someone’s death is enough to make restaurateurs enact new strategies to aid those with food allergies, the threat of litigation certainly gives an added motivation.
It begs the question: what is the responsibility of the food service industry in meeting needs for allergy sufferers? Beyond immediate financial losses, losing in court brings the irreparable loss of reputation. And the loss of reputation will deter non-allergic customers as well as allergic customers because the idea that there was negligence in one area tends to make people think that there is negligence in another. In other words, the overall quality of food safety will be called into question should someone experience a reaction to food served in your restaurant.  For this reason, it is important to have strict procedures in place to prevent such an incidence.

Nancy Caldarola, PhD, RD, a consultant with Concept Associates, is active in the GRA and    the    Women’ s    F oodservice    F orum.    With more than 35 years in the industry she has held senior operations, training, and marketing roles in several international chains. She is a past lecturer at UGA, and was recently named Education Director for NACS CAFÉ at GSU. 678-523-3080

Allison Barfield graduated from the University of GA with a degree in Dietetics. She is currently a graduate student at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis studying Occupational Therapy. A licensed pilot, Allison’s future includes mission work in underdeveloped areas where she can share her knowledge and skills.

Chef Linton Hopkins announced that Aaron Russell is joining Restaurant Eugene as Pastry Chef.  In addition to the desert menu, tasting desserts and nightly mignardises, Russell is supervising the cheese program.

Says Hopkins of his newest hire, “he brings refinement, creativity and sophistication to the table, which is the perfect complement to my menu.  He’s just a great fit for us.  He is a true professional and a nice guy.  I couldn’t be happier.”

After culinary school, Russell’s culinary career started with Johannes Klapdohr at Nikolai’s Roof. He later worked as pastry chef under Bruno Menard at The Dining Room in the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead and later with Guenter Seeger as the Pastry Chef at Seeger’s namesake restaurant. It was Chef Seeger’s impeccable approach to local, organic ingredients and simple preparations which has held the most influence on Russell’s current style.

At only 23 years of age, Russell became the youngest ever 5 Star pastry chef.  His work at The Chocolate Bar saw him nominated in 2008 and 2009 for “Outstanding Pastry Chef” by the prestigious James Beard Foundation.

Michael Deihl, CEC CCA ACE AAC announced that he has accepted the nomination to run for the American Culinary Federation’s (ACF) 2011 Southeast Regional Vice Presidency.

Deihl is currently Chairman of the Board for the ACF Greater Atlanta Chapter, ACF State of Georgia Coordinator and the ACF Southeast Ethics Chair. He has served 2 terms as President of the ACF Greater Atlanta Chapter from 2006 thru 2009 and one term as ACF National Ethics Chair from 2008-2010. Under Deihl’s leadership, the ACF Greater Atlanta Chapter earned the 2008 ACF National Chapter of the Year award.

Most recently at the 2010 ACF National Convention in Anaheim the new Culinarians Code which Deihl orchestrated, was approved by the ACF National Board of Governors. Deihl is also the co-founder of Operation Chefs Unite (OCU) and in conjunction with the ACF Greater Atlanta Chapter and the USO, they have fed over a million soldiers passing through Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport over the last 6 years.

Deihl has a long history with the ACF over the last 25 years and has contributed much of himself to the chapters and communities he has served. A recipient of the ACF Chapter Chef of the Year award in both 1998 & 2006, along with the ACF Chapter Humanitarian of the Year award in 2005, Deihl’s past leadership abilities also include serving as President and Chairman of the Board of the Hilton Head Island Chefs Association from 1992-1999. Chef Deihl has given selfishly of himself throughout his culinary career in the hopes of giving a helping hand to those around him and welcomes this new challenge ahead of him as a candidate for the 2011 Southeast Regional Vice Presidency

View a profile article on Chef Michael Deihl.

Ford Fry, Owner/Executive Chef of JCT. Kitchen & Bar, announced that he is partnering with Drew Belline to open a new Italian-inspired restaurant in the old Eurasia Bistro space in Decatur in February 2011.  Belline, who was previously chef de cuisine at Floataway Café, will serve as executive chef/partner for the new restaurant.

“Drew is an amazing chef and I think it is time for him to have a partnership in his own restaurant,” says Fry.  “We share a passion for locally sourced, simple though not simplistic food and wood-fired cooking and are both really excited to bring Italian-inspired dishes to Decatur.  Plus, Decatur is home to Drew, so it’s truly a perfect location!”

Belline is an Atlanta native and a graduate of Johnson and Wales.  He began his career in New York, working first at Charlie Palmer’s Kitchen 22 and then at Tom Colicchio’s Craft, before returning to Atlanta to work under Anne Quatrano and Clifford Harrison at Quinones at Bacchanalia and Floataway Café.

Fry is currently the owner and executive chef of JCT. Kitchen & Bar, an Atlanta restaurant known for offering Southern farmstead cuisine.  He is a native of Houston, Texas, and a graduate of the New England Culinary Institute.  Fry’s culinary background also includes stints in executive and sous chef positions at The Ritz Carlton in Aspen, Houston and Naples, as well as Snowmass Lodge in Snowmass, Colorado, and the Ojai Valley Inn and Spa in Ojai, California.   He is also the founder of one of Atlanta’s top food events, The JCT. Kitchen & Bar Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival.  This event, which raises funds for Georgia Organics, gives chefs and attendees the opportunity to meet local producers and develop longstanding relationships in order to further support the local food movement.  Fry currently serves as a Co-Chair of the Georgia Organics Chef Advisory Board and as a member of the Founders Council for the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival.

This profile article excerpted from: From Classic to Casual
Restaurant Forum, September 2010
By Jaymi Curley

GOING GASTRO WITH GUSTO
Gastropubs have lit up the scene in the past few years, offering diners upscale fare in a casual atmosphere without breaking the bank. But in 2005, the concept of fancier food in a bar setting was virtually unheard of in Georgia. P’cheen International Bistro & Pub in the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood of Atlanta was one of the first of its kind in the city, and it’s still going strong five years later.

Chef Alex Friedman, co-owner and chef at P’cheen, does not see a fine dining background and a casual restaurant as mutually exclusive. “To use the term ‘upscale’ versus ‘casual’ is to miscommunicate what we are doing here. Because the main difference between [fine dining] cuisine and mine is that their portions are smaller. Their plates may be more expensive, their wine glasses may be made of fine crystal, or they may have an army of servers circling around you at all times, but the quality of food at P’cheen is just as good and maybe even better than some fine-dining restaurants in Atlanta. Because I doubt most of them are making as much of their food from scratch as we are here.”

Friedman, a graduate of Johnson and Wales University, began his path in the industry at just 14 years old, starting as a busboy and running the gamut of the kitchen hierarchy, until at 19, he was taken aside by the chef at the Petroleum Club, a CCA-networked private club in Evanston, Illinois. “I had worked my way all the way up to sous chef,” says Friedman, “and Chef said I had natural gift for it, but basically had two choices: I could stay there and work for him as a sous chef or I could go to culinary school. So I started applying.”

Upon graduating and working three years as a sous chef at the Biltmore Estates, Friedman moved to Atlanta, where he worked under Arnaud Michel and Jean-Frederic Perfettini at Pastis. He later transferred to the pair’s Anis Bistro in Buckhead, where he became executive chef. It was there that he met his business partner Kieran Neely, who is now co-owner of P’cheen.

In the creation of P’cheen, Friedman says he was not turning his back on his fine-dining roots, but rather creating a fusion of the quality diners expect to see in fine dining with an atmosphere that’s a more relaxing experience.

“We were trying to accomplish something at P’cheen that no one else had done,” Friedman recalls. “Although we did not realize it at the time, we were creating Atlanta’s first gastropub. We wanted to try to create an environment where there is high-quality food, but you are also breaking bread with spirits and enjoying yourself, because great food and spirits always go together.”

The move to casual dining really only came about over the past decade, following a period when the high-end, 12-course chef tastings had exploded.

“But the average person—who can’t afford to spend $300 or $400 dollars on a meal that, frankly, you walk away and you are still hungry—wanted to be able to eat high-quality food in an environment they can enjoy and relate to,” Friedman says. “Kieran and I wanted to create a place where we’d be comfortable. Where anyone—white, black, Asian, Hispanic, gay, straight—could sit down, look at the menu, and find something on the menu that they can understand and enjoy.”

STAYING LOCAL AND AFFORDABLE
As a recent study reports, 70 percent of consumers say they are more likely to visit a restaurant that sources local and/or organic food for its menus. Therefore, it makes sense that the principles of local and sustainable ingredients would filter from the fine-dining arena into the casual concept restaurant. And although the trend toward local and organic food has upped the price per person for many restaurants, Friedman makes it a point to use local ingredients while also keeping the menu affordable.

“As much as we are all in this to make a living, I am also here to provide service. And where some chefs are going to say, ‘Well I can charge more for local and organic,’ I work along the lines that because we make just about everything here from scratch, I can charge the customer a little less than if I were buying things already made. I pass it on to my customers,” Friedman says, adding that keeping prices reasonable is the best way to protect the overall bottom line at P’cheen over the long term. Most items on the menu hover around the $10 mark, and nothing is over $18.

“I have had to raise my prices a little bit just like everyone else in this economy, but I want to make sure that my clientele can still afford to come in here to eat. And you are seeing a lot places shut down left and right, all over Atlanta and all over the country, because people can’t afford the prices.”

Chef Friedman uses local ingredients primarily sourced from Lazy S Ranch outside Athens, and he also has an herb garden beside the restaurant that he uses frequently as well. Everything on the menu is made from scratch, including the Potato Gnocchi Primavera, Bistro Steak a la Plancha con Chimichurri, and its Jar of Pickled Farm Fresh Veg – a mix of pickled green beans, garlic, red peppers, celery, carrots and jalapeno along with fried house pickles.

A CLASSIC EDUCATION IS STILL KEY
For whatever kind of restaurant is the ultimate goal, Chef Friedman maintains that a classic education is invaluable. “The beauty of culinary school is that it refines the skills that you learn from working in kitchens. Unless you are working under the highest caliber of fine dining chefs, you are never going to learn the real traditional way to make a stock, or what a proper brunoise or bouquet garni is,” he says. “There are the properties of a sauce, or all these great, old-school classical dishes that you may not see on menus anymore, but that are the cornerstone for the techniques you need in order to be able to cook in today’s restaurants. And you can learn the majority of it in restaurants, but you don’t learn the refined techniques like you do in culinary school.”

“Culinary school is one of those things where you get out of it what you put into it. You go through the program and really learn the techniques, get A’s across the board, graduate magna cum laude, and you’ll find yourself being chased after by the big fine dining establishments and top organizations,” Friedman says. “And I think that is the proper way to go for someone who is interested in being a chef-owner someday.”

STAFFING MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE
Even in a casual environment, both Friedman feels that the team members can make all the difference to both the customer and the chef-owner. Friedman’s approach to staffing is to look for people who are “committed” and willing to contribute to the success of the restaurant. “I don’t have some college kid who is thinking, I’m just here to earn a few bucks between classes and I’ll be out of here in six months when I graduate.”

Friedman helps foster a sense of unity among his employees with staff meetings where they contribute ideas to help the growth of P’Cheen. In addition, Friedman is adamant about modeling the kind of hard work and dedication he expects from his employees. “I would never presume to ask anyone who works for me to do something I am not willing to do myself. This place takes everyone to run it. If the grease trap is backed up and it needs to be emptied before a plumber can get out here, I am the first one to pull on a pair of gloves and get disgusting.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Haigwood Studios

Bob Amick and Todd Rushing, co-founders of Concentrics Restaurants, announce their decision to dissolve Concentrics’ partnership with Jonathan St. Hilaire and BAKESHOP.  St. Hilaire will operate BAKESHOP under internal management.

“We sincerely enjoyed working with Jonathan St. Hilaire and assisting in the success of BAKESHOP,” states Bob Amick, owner of Concentrics Restaurants. “We were pleased to maintain a relationship with him for so many years and wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors.”

St. Hilaire worked as the Executive Pastry Chef for all of Concentrics’ Restaurants until 2009, when he partnered with Concentrics in the opening of BAKESHOP. The Midtown boulangerie and patisserie offers breads, croissants, cakes, quiches, sandwiches, salads and brewed coffees. The concept operates in true European style—baking batches throughout the day for both wholesale and retail offerings.

Classically trained at the French Culinary Institute, St. Hilaire’s resume lists culinary positions in New York City including Terrance Brennan’s Picholine, Payard’s Patisserie and Bistro, Bouley Bakery and Danny Meyer’s Eleven Madison Park. And in Atlanta, Hilaire worked in at 1848 House, Canoe, Spice, The Four Seasons Hotel, Executive Chef of the Westeye Group, and as Executive Pastry chef at Woodfire Grill. St. Hilaire was recently selected to be on the advisory board for Le Cordon Bleu, a worldwide leader in gastronomy, hospitality and management.

Concentrics Restaurants, founded in 2002 by Bob Amick and Todd Rushing, specializes in chef-driven culinary destinations including ONE. midtown kitchen, TWO urban licks, TAP, PARISH Foods & Goods, Murphy’s, Lobby at TWELVE, Room at TWELVE and  LUMA on Park. The company offers a full-service development and management team and has partnered with Murphy’s Restaurant, Sports Radio 790 The Zone, Legacy Property Group, France Developments, The Novare Group and ECD Company.

St. Hilaire recently participated in Restaurant Forum’s April 2010 Chef’s Roundtable cover story.

Legendary Partners of Atlanta, the newly-selected culinary service partner to The Woodruff Arts Center in Atlanta, announced that Gary Mennie has joined The Woodruff Arts Center as Executive Chef. The Woodruff Arts Center houses four arts organizations – Alliance Theatre, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, High Museum of Art, and Young Audiences.

A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Chef Mennie trained under French master chefs at Maxime’s of New York and West Hollywood’s L’Orangerie, before joining the kitchen at Spago. Among the youngest chefs to achieve Mobil Four Star Status — during his ten-year tenure at Canoe restaurant in Atlanta — Mennie has established a reputation for translating local farm-to-table concepts into upscale and elegant cuisine. His resume in Atlanta also includes opening Taurus and serving as the Executive Chef at The Livingston Restaurant at the Georgian Terrace Hotel.

Legendary Partners of Atlanta is scheduled to begin services at The Woodruff Arts Center in the fall of 2010. Among its plans are a refreshed restaurant concept, enhancements to public food offerings, and offering an array of special event catering choices. The company isa a collaboration between A Legendary Event and Centerplate. Legendary Partners of Atlanta’s Tony Conway said, “We are thrilled to welcome Chef Gary… He will bring a fresh new dining experience to this landmark facility.”

Serving 250 entertainment, sports and convention venues across North America, including 21 performing arts centers, Centerplate is a hospitality company based out Stamford, Conn.