Literally Something for Everyone at the 2012 ACF National Convention
If you have never attended a national convention of the ACF you may wish to reconsider. I realize the cost and the time away from work may seem prohibitive but as the saying goes, where there's a will there's a way.
This year's conference was held in Orlando, where it has been held fairly often in the past. If you are a Chef with a family there are the theme parks and countless other attractions for them to enjoy. Obviously we go to the convention for education and networking. There are dozens of opportunities to get CEH for initial or re-certification through seminars, attendance at the general sessions and the trade show. The ACF has done a great job at the general sessions to make them more lively and entertaining. This year Robert Irvine from Restaurant Impossible was featured at the first with Paul Prudhomme the guest speaker at the second. There are awards handed out to our peers. I particularly enjoyed the Chef Professionalism presentation. It was more than inspiring to hear and see the stories of the nominees by way of a very professionally shot video. Each of the candidates deserved to win. Our region's nominee has had an awesome career and went to culinary school here in Atlanta. The winner was Chef Don Miller,CEC, CCE, AAC of Notre Dame dining services.
Catching up with old friends is another valuable part of attending the convention. I often joke I see people from Atlanta more outside the city than here since we are always so busy. I ran into one of my all time favorite people in our profession- Certified Master Chef James Hanyzeski,CMC,WGMC with whom I worked at the Cherokee Town Club 22 years ago. Chef Hanyzeski is a remarkable individual and Chef. He works for the Culinary Institute of America and was headed to Singapore after the convention to teach there. He has also taken a culinary adventures group to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. I would love to have him come to Atlanta again and talk to our chapter
As far as the governance of our organization, the convention is an opportunity to see how the various committees and officers conduct business. On that note, all of us in the Southeast region were thrilled and proud to have our Chapter president, Michael Deihl, CEC, CCA, AAC nominated for Southeast Region Vice President. Chef Michael has always stood for one simple principle- that everything the ACF does should benefit the membership.
If you are a student or junior member besides the seminars there were many competitions to watch live on the trade show floor. Here you could watch everything from the Knowledge Bowl competition to the Junior team finals to the Chef of the Year challenge.
The trade show itself is a fun and interesting way to learn. Hundreds of food service related exhibitors with items ranging from gourmets foods to equipment show their products.
Dining is also part of the educational experience. The Academy of Chefs dinner is always the gastronomic high point of the convention. I was also lucky to be able to sample some local dining. My close friend Jonathan Elwell, CEC, Executive Chef of the Old Town Club in Winston Salem, North Carolina went out to dinner at Emeril's Tchoup Chop one evening. The Executive Chef is a very talented young man named Greg Richie. When Jonathan was doing his apprenticeship at the Atlanta Athletic Club with me, Greg was the fine dining chef there. It was a great night, a mini reunion and Greg's food was outstanding. He will be doing a James Beard House dinner in October, which I hope to be able to fly up and assist him.
There are so many other highlights it would be impossible to go through them all. However there two things left to mention. The first was to see our chapter's own Daniel Gorman of the Cherokee Town and Country Club receive a Presidential medallion form our ACF president Michael Ty, CEC,AAC at the general session and to have him officially recognized as the World Junior Chef's Challenge Champion at the president's gala. Having worked with Chef Gorman and watching him practice I can tell you he is a one of a kind talent and individual.
The second was what President Don Gyurkovits of the Canadian Chef Association said at the first general session. Speaking of Daniel Gorman, Chef Ty was giving Chef Gyurkovits a token of appreciation from the ACF because of the help the Canadian contingent gave Chef Gorman. It seems our president was delayed and couldn't make it to Korea where the competition was held for a few days and Chef Gyurkovits helped Daniel get settled in. As Chef Ty was presenting the award he turned to Chef Don and said "I was a little embarrassed that I had to rely on a foreigner to assist our own competitor" Chef Don corrected him and said, "Not a foreigner, I'm your brother," then he turned to the audience and said, "We are Chefs, we are all brothers." A great moment and a memory that will endure whenever I think of our association... And by the way, I'm sure he meant sisters as well.
