Mark Erickson, CMC, Vice President/Dean of Culinary Education at The Culinary Institute of America (CIA), will deliver the keynote address on “Culinary Trends No Chef Can Afford to Ignore” at Club & Resort Business’ 2011 Chef to Chef Conference, to be held March 6-8, 2011 at The Fairmont San Francisco Hotel.
As Vice President and Dean of Education for the CIA, Erickson oversees curriculum development as well as continuing education programs for all three U.S. campuses. He also oversees intellectual property development and industry consulting services.
Erickson is one of only 62 Certified Master Chefs in the country. He has been instrumental in the development of the CIA’s programs on nutrition and healthy cooking, as well as the college’s innovative Internet initiative, www.ciaprochef.com. He also oversees the CIA’s branch campuses in St. Helena, Calif. and San Antonio, Texas.
Erickson’s career includes experience as Chef Garde Manger of the Palace Hotel in Gstaad, Switzerland; Executive Sous Chef of the Greenbrier Hotel in White Sulphur Springs, W.V., and Executive Chef of Cherokee Town and Country Club in Atlanta, Ga.
A 1977 graduate with high honors from the CIA, Erickson was director of culinary education at the Institute’s Hyde Park campus from 1988 to 1990.
A native of Alexandria, Minn., Erickson was a member of the gold medal-winning United States Culinary Olympic Teams in 1980, 1984, and 1988, and part of the U.S. team that won the 1985 Culinary World Cup. He earned “Crystal Chef” honors by having the highest score in the ten-day Certified Master Chef examination administered by the American Culinary Federation in 1985.
Erickson’s keynote address on Sunday night, March 6, which will be followed by a plated dinner and reception hosted by Club & Resort Business magazine, will kick off the 2011 Chef to Chef Conference, which this year has the theme “Creating Real, and Lasting, Culinary Distinction.”
The Conference will also feature educational breakout sessions from industry experts on topics including sustainability and product sourcing, food costs and F&B financials, management communication strategies and ways to create distinctive dining destinations. There will be live culinary demonstrations with applicable techniques on creating and menuing hors d’oeuvres, appetizers, pastry, and upscale casual dining options, as well as a special demonstration on event menu building.
The conference will include a special “live” version of C&RB‘s popular “Chef to Chef” feature, during which Jerry Schreck, Executive Chef of Merion Golf Club, Ardmore, Pa., and other Conference speakers will lead an audience discussion of key topics affecting all aspects of culinary quality and performance in club and resort settings.
Finally, there will be a unique workshop setup, during which Conference attendees will be divided into teams to devise, under the direction of team leaders from among the Conference speakers, solutions for specific, “real world” problems from club and resort culinary operations. Attendees will have the opportunity to submit problems that they would like to have addressed in this workshop when registering for the Conference.
Topics for breakout educational sessions on Monday, March 7 and Tuesday, March 8, will include:
- Creating Distinctive Dining Destinations
- Understanding Food Costs and F&B Financials Serving Up the Best Hors d’Oeuvres and Appetizers (Live Culinary Demonstration)
- What Club GMs Expect from Their Chefs-and What Chefs Want, and Need, in Return
- How to Make Sustainability an Effective and Ingrained Practice for Any Food and Beverage Program
- Upscale Casual Dining: Giving Everyone What They Want (Live Culinary Demonstration)
- Profiting from an In-House Pastry Operation-Even When There’s No Pastry Chef On Staff (Live Culinary Demonstration)
- Memorable and Successful Events (Live Culinary Demonstration)
The Conference’s full speaker lineup will be announced by the end of the year. For other details and continuing updates about the conference agenda, program and speakers, and full registration information, go to www.CheftoChefConference.com
The Chef to Chef Conference is devoted exclusively to the special needs of club and resort food and beverage operations. Designed to be attended by representatives from the food and beverage management teams at private, semi-private and daily-fee clubs, resorts, golf courses and city, dining and yacht clubs, including Executive Chefs, Chefs de Cuisine and Sous Chefs, General Managers, F&B Directors/Managers and Clubhouse Directors/Managers.
Attendees of the Chef to Chef Conference are eligible for American Culinary Federation (ACF) and Club Managers Association of America (CMAA) continuing education credits.
Discounts on registration for the 2011 Conference are available for those completing their registrations before December 31, 2010, and also for registrants from properties that have attended previous Conferences, and for multiple registrants from the same property.
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