Arizona Food Service Network

Cactus IFT: Diamondbacks vs Giants!!

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Come join Cactus IFT at Chase Field to watch the Arizona Diamondbacks play the San Francisco Giants!

Ticket price includes food and drinks, and of course tons of fun and excitement!

Seating is Suite Level and includes all your favorite stadium staples, such as hot dogs, peanuts, popcorn, chips, soda and water, plus a great view of the field!

Please be sure to register by July 31, 2019.

REGISTER HERE.

We hope to see you there!

I

ACFAZ & Hope for Hunger Food Bank

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Volunteer Opportunity!!

Monday, May 13, 2019

Hope for Hunger Food Bank, 5605 N 55th Ave. Glendale, AZ 85301

Two Shifts of volunteers: 9-11 AM and 11 AM – 1 PM

To sign up or ask questions, contact us via the ACFAZ via Facebook page.

Additional information for the event from the Phoenix Recuse Mission, and Chef Garry Waldie, CEC, CEPC, CCE, AAC, HOGT.

“Dear PRM Volunteer,

Thank you for your volunteer service with the Phoenix Rescue Mission. Your efforts on behalf of the Mission are truly appreciated. Your valuable time and services allow us as a Mission to offer superior programs and support to the Valley’s homeless and less fortunate.

All volunteers should be particularly aware of the following:

The minimum age for volunteer service is 12. You will not be permitted to serve if you do not meet this age minimum and are accompanied by an adult.  

Please read the Volunteer Guidelines prior to your service.  

Please arrive on time. Otherwise it will be necessary to arrange for a substitute.

Please do not bring more volunteers than scheduled, unless previously arranged. We have limited spots available for each service and they are reserved on first come first serve basis. We’ll be happy to schedule others for another time.

Please, dress conservatively, preferably:

Wear jeans or long shorts, T-shirt, etc. NO TANK TOPS OR SPAGHETTI STRAPS ARE ALLOWED!

Closed –toed shoes are a health code requirement. NO FLIP FLOPS OR SANDALS! (Otherwise you will not be able to serve.)

Parking is available in the small lot located on the south side of the building at 55th ave and Luke. Additional parking is available along Luke avenue, please observe and obey all posted parking signage. 

We look forward to seeing you.  Have fun!

Thanks Garry”

JBF Blended Burger Project™

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The 5th Annual Blended Burger Project™

Now is the time to make a difference through delicious food we create. There are more opportunities than ever to be recognized for making a sustainable difference on your menus. For the last four years, chefs across the country have joined The Blended Burger Project™, a movement that strives to make the iconic burger even better for your customers and for the planet by blending at least 25% fresh mushrooms into your burgers.  

Why join? Learn more on the JBF website.

ACF National Officers Election

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From the ACF newsletter, The Culinary Insider, April 29, 2019, the ACF National Officers election ballots have been sent out via email. If you are eligible to vote, please do. Show your support for your association by returning the email ballot.

No deadline noted for the return. The ballot email is “ACF Election Coordinator”, email, noreply@directvote.net, and the subject line “2019 ACF Offical Election Ballot.”

“If you do not receive a ballot and believe you are eligible to vote, please check your spam and junk folders before contacting the federation. All comments and questions should be directed to administration@acfchefs.net. “

Scottsdale Culinary Festival

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Saturday April 13, 2019 and Sunday April 14, 2019 at The Scottsdale Civic Plaza

A World of Food at your Fingertips
Taste the world at this festival featuring 41 of the Valley’s finest restaurants, chefs and food exhibitors, live music on 3 stages including headliner Berlin featuring Terri Nunn on Saturday night, culinary demos, an array of beverages, family activities and VIP available at this festival to raise money for the arts. The longest-running food festival in the country, we have been supporting local arts programs since 1978. Join us for this great cause and enjoy a day in the park.

 

Get tickets and learn more here.

Native foods at Scottsdale Culinary Festival

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Marvel at the Arizona native foods bounty available for those who know where and when and how to harvest them all in a 5-minute musical slide show highlighting just 250 of them at Mark Lewis’ culinary demonstration at the Scottsdale Culinary Festival, 3:30 PM, Sun 14 April.  Our 2500 desert ingredients stand the equals of any in the world!

Stick around for the edible science — the chem and the dem — of “Cactus Branches in the Kitchen” a practical 15-cacti cooking demo showing off what makes working with the different cacti different.

Scottsdale Culinary Festival, Scottsdale Civic Center Mall, 7380 E 2nd St, Old Town Scottsdale https://scottsdalefest.org/



ACFAZ Meeting, Barry Goldwater High School Culinary Arts

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The meeting was held at Barry Goldwater High School’s Culinary Arts department in the school restaurant, Avenue 27. Barry Goldwater High School, BVGHS  is part of the Deer Valley Unified School District, and their address is 2820 W. Rose Garden Lane Phoenix, AZ 85027.

You’ll find more information about the program under the BGHS Career and Technical Education tab or on the Culinary Arts program’s website. Culinary Arts is one of two Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs offered at BGHS; the other is Drafting.

Avenue 27 is the student-ran restaurant at BGHS and they note, there are three more a la carte dinners scheduled for this semester; April 5, 12, and 26. Here is a copy of the menu, if you are interested in attending, you’ll need to make reservations. Email them at Avenue27@avusd.org

Before every During the ACFAZ board meeting, we talked about the Western Regional Conference in Minneapolis, March 31-April 2. We have some members attending but also, our own Chef Tuan Butch Raphael is up for the Nestle Professionalism award and Chef Lenard Rubin is up for the Hermann Rusch award.

Starting the ACF Apprenticeship program in Arizona took a step forward with the first confirmed facility and chef on board. Executive Chef Andrew Helmandollar with Casino Arizona will be starting the program for his company and has been waiting for the ACF online material to get through the testing period, which is now done and ready to go. Following up with Chef Helmandollar is next and learning more about the ACF Apprenticeship program.

Another fantastic step forward is connecting with high school culinary arts directors to share with them the ACF Certified Fundamental Cook, CFC certification. Here is the CFC application. For some, the skills and knowledge these students acquire in this program help set the course for their career and with the CFC certification, this gives students their first level of certification when they graduate which will give them an edge in the workforce.

Chef Ryan Mattheis of BGHS hosted the meeting with some of their culinary students and sampled items from their menu. During the general meeting, Chef Mattheis and Chef Dina Alrieri of UMOM had an awesome dialog about the CFC and you could see Chef Mattheis thinking about how that would work for his students. Chef Alrieri ran the pilot program at the Center on Halsted in Chicago, which makes this connection even more exciting. Learn more about her experience with that here.

The students at BGHS learn knife skills, garde-manger, food prep, baking and pastries, stocks, sauces, plating, and cooking techniques, and advanced French methods already so it makes sense to offer certification at the high school level.

BGHS also has internships programs available and always looking for to add to their list of potential employers. If you are a chef or food service operator interested in an internship or hiring students, you can learn more here.

We are working on a plan to share the CFC with other Arizona high school culinary art programs and their staff and look forward to sharing more about all of this as it develops.

This type of meeting is part of my “Why” for the Arizona Food Service Network and Chef Student Connect, great things happen when people connect. Next ACFAZ Meeting is April 8th at Metro Tech High School.


ACFAZ March 11th Meeting

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Join us March 11th for our next meeting at Barry Goldwater High School.

Board meeting 3:30 PM

General meeting 5 PM+ Google Calendar+ iCal Export

Details

Date: March 11

Time: 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm

Organizer

ACFAZ, American Culinary Federation Chef’s Association of Arizona Website: https://www.acfaz.org

Venue

Barry Goldwater High School

2820 W. Rose Garden Lane
Phoenix, AZ 85027

United States + Google Map

Phone: 623-445-3000 Website: https://www.dvusd.org/bghs

ACFAZ, AAC/Presidents Awards Dinner

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The ACFAZ held an American Academy of Chefs/ Presidents Awards Dinner on January 21, 2109 at Mirabel Golf Club executed by Executive Chef Bruce Christensen and his staff of Mirabel Golf Club.

Here is the Album from the event.


The evening started at 4 PM which gave attendees time to socialize and a chance for me to grab a few sun set pictures. What a beautiful place, great people, and the food was pretty amazing.

I had the vegetarian meal which for the entree was a roasted turnip and it was so good, I’m going to give it a try myself one day. Topped with the Citrus Fennel Salad, I really enjoyed it.

The Pommes Dauphine were outstanding. The world would be a better place with more of those in it. So tasty, we all would have eaten more. My whole meal was fantastic and so was the wine for my favorite form the Forth Course was the Run Babas and the Madeleines were especially good as well.

The winner of the 2018 ACFAZ Chef of the Year is Chef Gary Waldie, CEC, CEPC, CCE, AAC. Learn more about Chef Gary Waldie here. He does many things to help support the chapter and our community, well deserved.

The Purveyors of the Year are Southwest Gas and Capistrano’s Bakery for all their support of the ACFAZ throughout the year. Both have hosted meetings and Capistrano’s Bakery, always happy to sample and donate product. We are grateful for the support.

Hannah Laqua accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award on behave of her husband, Chef Eric Laqua with two of their daughters there as well.

Will need to update this post once I get a list of vendors that donated product that helped make this dinner a success.