Latest news with #culinaryarts
CTV News
12-06-2025
- Sport
- CTV News
Winnipeg high school culinary team wins national championship
The Kitchen Brigade Team at Gordon Bell High School poses for a photo during the La Tablée des Chefs Canadian Culinary Competition in Montreal on June 9, 2025. (Submitted: Gordon Bell High School) A Winnipeg high school's cooking team has won a competition crowning them champions of the kitchen. The Kitchen Brigade team at Gordon Bell High School was named national champion at the La Tablée des Chefs Canadian Culinary Competition over the weekend, defeating top student chefs across the country. Grade 10 and 11 students Cailyn Olshevski, Matea Thiessen-Unger, Yevhen Zinchenco, Avery Van Solkema, and Sebastian Salter were the first team outside of Quebec to win the national championship in 13 years. 'It was amazing; we're really excited,' Van Solkema said. 'I'm really proud of our teammates,' Zinchenco said. gordon bell high school The Kitchen Brigade Team at Gordon Bell High School poses after winning the La Tablée des Chefs Canadian Culinary Competition in Montreal on June 9, 2025. (Submitted: Gordon Bell High School) The competition is similar to cooking shows like 'Chopped,' where the teams receive a basket of mystery items and are tasked with creating and cooking a meal in a one-hour time limit, incorporating those ingredients into the dishes. 'You have no room for mistakes, and you always have to be in the kitchen, no distractions or anything,' Zinchenco said. 'You have to be locked in.' Gordon Bell High School The Kitchen Brigade Team at Gordon Bell High School works in the kitchen during the La Tablée des Chefs Canadian Culinary Competition in Montreal on June 9, 2025. (Submitted: Gordon Bell High School) (lamich) In the final round, the Gordon Bell team received a turnip, a sirloin steak and Brussels sprouts as ingredients. Their first idea for the dish was shot down by judges. 'We wrote down steak tartare because we had been practising that, and as they saw us writing it down, they said, 'Sorry, no steak tartare allowed,'' Van Solkema said, noting the dish would be considered too easy for teams to make. The group pivoted and created a deconstructed summer salad with medium-rare steak, potato chips, and a Brussels sprout puree, along with a tomato confit. gordon bell cooking competition The deconstructed summer salad created by The Kitchen Brigade Team at Gordon Bell High School in the final round of the La Tablée des Chefs Canadian Culinary Competition in Montreal on June 9, 2025. (Submitted: Gordon Bell High School) (lamich) 'One of the judges said they had never seen the Brussels sprout puree, and it tasted amazing,' said Van Solkema. 'They also said they liked how many techniques we showed with our dish,' said Thiessen-Unger. The team will return to Montreal on June 21 to represent Canada in an international match against a school from Paris, France, an experience they're both nervous and excited for.
Forbes
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
What Business Leaders Can Learn From The World's Top Chefs
Motion chefs working in Chinese restaurant kitchen The concept of the celebrity chef may seem modern, but its origins stretch back centuries. In Renaissance Italy, Bartolomeo Scappi dazzled with culinary innovation; in 19th-century France, Marie-Antoine Carême served Napoleon and codified haute cuisine. Yet it wasn't until the 20th century—when Julia Child entered American living rooms via public television—that the 'chef as household name' truly took hold. Today, we live in a golden age of culinary stardom. From Netflix specials to multi-million-dollar restaurant empires, elite chefs aren't just preparing food—they're shaping culture, building brands, and running some of the most demanding operations in the world. And here's the real insight: many of these chefs are self-made, rising from anonymous line cooks to international icons. Their success is forged in extreme environments—under heat, pressure, and relentless scrutiny. In many ways, their path mirrors that of high-performing founders and executives. The best chefs aren't just culinary artists. They're operational tacticians, team architects, and culture builders. So what can enterprise leaders learn from them? Quite a bit. Step into the kitchen of a Michelin-starred restaurant during service, and you'll witness one of the most disciplined, synchronized operations in the world. Every individual knows their role. Every movement is intentional. Every second counts. There's no ambiguity, no second-guessing—just execution at the highest level. 'A restaurant is only as good as its team,' says serial entrepreneur Justin Connor, President of Chef's Table Projects. Chef's Table also happens to be my favorite Netflix series. By far. 'That's why the best chefs obsess over hiring, mentoring, and retaining the right people. It takes an inspired team to create unforgettable experiences.' In contrast, many business leaders rely on hope over precision. They default to 'inspiration' rather than building systems that enable clarity and execution. More than a decade ago, Mark Zuckerberg championed the phrase 'move fast and break things.' In the culinary world, that mindset doesn't build empires—it breaks businesses. Elite chefs are systems thinkers. They understand that operational excellence isn't the enemy of innovation—it's the foundation. As a recent McKinsey report noted, 'Great leaders make bold moves to improve their organization's impact—but executing such moves requires balancing a compelling purpose with a realistic assessment of how to achieve it.' What truly separates legendary chefs from weekend cooks isn't just their food—it's the culture surrounding it. In these kitchens, everything is intentional: the plating, the pacing, the lighting, even the greeting at the door. Culture isn't a mission statement on the wall. It's a lived, practiced rhythm embedded in the team's behavior. 'Excellence in the culinary world isn't just about taste—it's about trust, hard work, and shared intent,' says Connor. 'The best chefs articulate a clear vision and then build teams capable of delivering that vision every day.' For many executives, this is where scaling breaks down. They either over-index on strategy or creativity—but rarely both. Yet the best environments for innovation are those with clear systems, embedded values, and a shared sense of purpose. In fact, a recent study by INSEAD professors Fabrizio Salvador and Fabian Sting shows that companies that empower their frontline teams—much like kitchen brigades—see a measurable increase in innovation, productivity, and engagement. Why? Because when people understand not just what to do but why it matters, you get more than compliance—you earn commitment. One of the biggest myths in leadership is that you must choose between being creative or strategic. But the best chefs—and the best business leaders—embrace both. 'At its core, strategy is about finding ways to create and claim value through differentiation,' writes NYU professor Adam Brandenburger in Harvard Business Review. 'Yes, it requires creativity. But it also demands rigorous analysis, resource planning, and operational foresight.' Chefs live at this intersection. The acclaimed Chef's Table series doesn't just highlight dishes—it captures the discipline behind the artistry. 'Each of these chefs is an artist, an entrepreneur, and a manager,' says Connor. 'They create within physical constraints—limited space, time, and resources. And yet they produce unforgettable experiences. That only happens when vision is paired with structure.' For business leaders, the takeaway is clear: innovation without execution is chaos. Execution without vision is stagnation. The key is to shift between the roles of artist and operator with fluency—knowing when to ideate and when to deliver. There's a reason the highest-performing kitchens are called brigades. They are intentional, resilient, and built for speed and excellence. They embrace constraints as a canvas. They don't wait for perfect conditions—they create momentum through mastery. Want to understand how to build a high-performance team? Watch how the world's best chefs manage chaos, align teams, scale creativity, and lead with relentless standards. Because in the end, great leadership—whether in business or in the kitchen—isn't just about ideas. It's about execution under pressure, clarity of vision, and the courage to demand excellence.
CBS News
05-06-2025
- Business
- CBS News
The Radiant Table arrives in San Francisco for immersive dinner experience
At One Market Plaza, just across from the Ferry Building, The Radiant Table just opened for a six-week run, offering a new kind of dining experience. "When a guest comes in, they're sort of transported into this alternate realm where they're meeting their favorite chefs, but they're also experiencing their food in a way that they've never been able to do before," said Minkoff. Sam Minkoff is founder of SE Productions. He and his wife went to work quickly, building tables, setting up projectors, and transforming a co-working space cafe on the first floor, in just one week, into a colorful, immersive culinary experience. "The visuals on the table are meant to really complement the chef's meal, and the chefs design their meals around the visuals and vice versa. So, there's a major storytelling component there that allows those guests to kind of dive even deeper into the story of why that dish was created by that particular chef," said Minkoff. Michael Seiler, the founder of Collective Impact, a strategy firm, isn't leasing prime commercial real estate to just any business. He's looking for visionaries, artists, and entrepreneurs who can offer a different kind of product. "In downtown, you still see a lot of empty retail and so if you can empower those arts, culture and community leaders to activate the empty retail space, you immediately give them what they need to flourish, to grow, to get more people together, to grow opportunities for community and commerce, and that's what building owners want," said Seiler. In exchange for prime retail space that would normally cost tens of thousands a month, Minkoff and his team are showing how empty spaces can be used to attract permanent tenants. Once treasured pieces of downtown property worth hundreds of millions have sold for a fraction of what they were worth pre pandemic. "What they want is community in their space and vibrancy. They want their buildings to be alive. They want people to be enjoying it. They want people to be purchasing and buying. They want people to enjoy being back in person," said Seiler. It's experiences like this, art galleries with wine and clay making classes, and expos during SF Climate Week for example, that Seiler sees as a way to create a hub for community and commerce. "The narrative isn't out yet that San Francisco is back. It's vibrant. There are communities churning out their next version of what San Francisco will be," said Seiler. It's bringing people to the table, connecting them with the community, and hoping others will want to come back to a thriving downtown. Each dinner at The Radiant Table features a new chef including some Michelin Star winners. After its debut in San Francisco ends in June, the Radiant Table will head to Bellevue Washington next.
New York Times
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
I Can't Stop Thinking About These Dinner Rolls
If there's anyone who appreciates craft and the hours required to hone and refine a skill, it's the chef Chip Smith. Over a few hours one quiet Tuesday morning, as he ran through how he makes his ethereally crusty dinner rolls at his TriBeCa restaurant, Eulalie, he named at least a dozen artists whose devotion to their work he admires, among them chefs, bakers, jazz musicians, a glass blower and Lady Gaga — but only when it's just she and the piano. Smith himself was a former rock drummer, now attuned to the rhythms of the kitchen. Recipe: Crusty Dinner Rolls Classical music hummed in the background, while the bread dough slapped against the mixer bowl with a steady beat. After about 10 minutes, it was time for the first proof. 'One second,' he said, interrupting a story about the radio host Phil Schaap, who frequented Smith's former restaurant, Simone, to transfer the eggshell-white blob to a greased container and cover it with a sheet pan. It will get a second proof, a shaping into rolls, then a third and final proof, when one of Smith's chefs, Nick, will brush the little balls with egg wash before scoring them and baking them. Holding a fresh dinner roll can feel like holding a flame in your hand. If you wait too long to eat it, its light will extinguish. The ones at Eulalie have soft, airy interiors — aided by the addition of cake flour — and a wonderful thin crust that blisters like a good baguette. Tearing into one is priceless, the culmination of recipes and techniques Smith has picked up over the years and compiled in a binder like a Book of Shadows. (Among his many spells is a baguette from an old Amy's Bread cookbook.) Rarely are rolls made in house or as à la minute as they are at Eulalie, which Smith runs with his partner, Tina Vaughn, who leads the front-of-house operations (and tastes the bread daily for quality control). This bread sets the rhythm for the rest of the meal, the first thing started upon arrival, the first thing sent out to guests. Served from a basket and transferred to your plate with metal tongs, the warm rolls aren't just a freebie or a filler; they're a signal of the great meal to come. Few restaurants have the resources to prioritize homemade bread, often buying it from nearby bakeries or getting rid of the basket altogether. But at Eulalie, a single roll symbolizes Smith's love of performance, of good food that takes time to make and even longer to perfect. These dinner rolls are one of many reasons my partner and I dine at Eulalie at least twice a year, dressing up in our nicest jackets and ties, for each of our birthdays. It's the kind of place you want to take your parents when they're in town, or anyone who appreciates well-made bread. For the full effect, tear into the roll as soon as it comes to you, for the steam and scent alone, but especially so a thick slather of high-fat European-style butter can melt slightly. You don't really need more than one roll — they're quite hearty and filling — but you'll want another. A famous actor sat behind me one night recently, and the whole time I wondered if he ate his bread, and if not, could I have his? Baking 'the Bread,' which is what Vaughn calls Smith's recipe, might be the next best thing to eating it. It's a beautiful dough, plush and elastic but not sticky, easy to work with and fun to watch rise. If your kitchen is cold, do as my colleague and baking teacher Genevieve Ko does and proof the dough in the oven, turned off, with a mugful of hot water. Watch it grow before your eyes. The hardest part is rolling out the taut balls with one hand, so they form a belly button on the bottom (when eating them, that's where you should tear them open, Vaughn says). It takes practice, but nothing locks in focus like making bread with your own hands.
Hospitality Net
09-05-2025
- Business
- Hospitality Net
Kevin Michel has been appointed Executive Chef at Hilton Austin
Hilton Austin named Kevin Michel as the new executive chef of the 801-room property. With over 10 years of food and beverage experience, he joins the hotel from Juniper Hotel Cupertino, Curio Collection by Hilton in Cupertino, California where he previously served as executive chef. In his new role, Chef Kevin will bring his expertise and dedication to excellence in leading the hotel's banquet and culinary operations - with the capability of accommodating corporate and social events of up to 1,760 seated attendees - creating dining menus, and overseeing the hotel's two on-site restaurants: Cannon + Belle and Austin Taco Project. Working collaboratively alongside his new team, Chef Kevin plans to utilize his diverse style of multi-cultural cooking techniques to infuse fresh and unique ingredients into Austin Taco Project's eclectic menu. At Cannon + Belle, Chef Kevin intends to introduce his signature house dry-aged ribeye alongside an array of new dishes, complementing the concept's reputation for authentic flavors with a modern twist. A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Chef Kevin was surrounded by a family of great cooks and appreciates cooking for its unique ability to bring people together and foster connections. During his youth, Chef Kevin was a touring musician and would pull over on the side of the road and prepare his own meals, which further inspired his passion for cooking and transitioned into hospitality. Chef Kevin's experience includes The Restaurant at Wente Vineyards, Hop Devine, Dio Deka, and executive chef at Juniper Hotel Cupertino, Curio Collection by Hilton.
