November 2016

The Chefs de Cuisine Association of San Diego is online at: www.sdchefs.org

as well as at http://www.facebook.com/sdchefsde-cuisine

Also on at SDChefs For the Full Version of the Stockpot, please go to SD-CHEFS.ORG

November’s General Meeting: Casa GuadalajarWhen: Monday November 14, 2016Where: 4105 Taylor Street, San Diego, CA 92110Hosting: Chef Jose DuranIn addition, the general meeting reception starts at 6:00 pm.RSVP: Sbelger@sdchefs.org

The photos in October’s newsletter were supplied in by Jade Freedom from DiningOut San Diego.

December will be dark for the San Diego Chefs de Cuisine Association.To see the full version of The Stockpot, please go online at www.sdchefs.org.

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Table of Contents

What’s inside Page 2 President’s Report Page 3 Vice President’s Report Page 4 Chairman of the Board Page 5 Apprentice Program Page 6 October Fun Page 7 News of Interest Page 8 Prioritze 4th Quarter Page 9 Buy the Farm Page 10 Magnolia’s at the Mill Page 11 Cura Hospitality Page 12 Purveyor of the Year Page 13

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President’s Report Ricardo Santana

November 2016

Wow, what a busy month October was…before I knew it the month has come and gone. I want to thank all who joined our October meeting at Grossmont College. Chef Kris Saradpon, James Foran, and students hit it out of the park!! We had a very well attended evening with an educational component put together by Marco Ochoa of West Coast Prime Meats. Marco had Jeff Moore, president of International Pacific Seafoods give us a very informational lesson on fish. Jeff did an amazing job and spoke a lot on sourcing and where the market is on various seafood. The evening went very well and the dinner was great!! Once again, thank you all who helped put this evening together.

As many of you may know, Chef Michael Ames, who was a huge part of our association for many years recently passed away. Many of us from the Chefs de Cuisine supported the Ames family by catering the reception after the memorial services. It was such a blessing to honor him in this way. A special thanks goes out to Jerry Dollar for his coordination, and to all of the chefs who donated their time and food, such as Jose Duran, Joaquin Cueva, Jaime Cueva, Jerry Dollar, Jeff Roberto, David Yee, David Chenelle, Todd Bull, Eric Hokanson, and Stephen Spenser. Forgive me if I forgot to mention anyone. We also were blessed with the presence of Jay Pastoral among many of our long time members.

Jose Duran will be hosting our November meeting, and would like to dedicate the evening as a celebra-tion of life to Michael Ames. We will be inviting his immediate family to join us and some of the proceeds of the evening will be given to the Ames family. We encourage you all to wear your award medals and such to honor chef Ames. Please also feel free to bring any photos that you all might have of him to display on his table of awards.

Some of our board members visited the culinary students at Mesa College to talk to them about our association. There were many questions and answers, and it really provided a good education to the students of what we are all about. We appreciate the welcome by Michael Fitzgerald and Tonya Whitfield as well as their students. We look forward to doing the same throughout San Diego for other culinary programs.

As we plan forward, if there are any educational topics and or material that you would like us to cover, please feel free to contact chef Robert Reid AAC, CEC, CCA (vicepresident@sdchefs.org) to share your thoughts. Chef Reid is working on putting together an agenda for 2017’s educational component of our general meetings. We want to focus on the educational as well as the social portion of our meetings.

Thank you and God bless!Respectfully yours,

Chef Ricardo Santana

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November 2016

Vice-President’s Report Robert Reid

Climbing the Certification LadderRobert Reid, CEC

As the San Diego Chef de Cuisine Certification Chair, I strive to bring information to our members that will keep them up to date on the benefits of achieving professional certification through the Ameri-can Culinary Federation.

You may or not be aware that the ACF offers certifications on several experience levels. The first level of certification is Culinarian (CC) or Pastry Culinarian (CPC). The second level is Certified Working Pastry Chef (CWPC) or Certified Sous Chef (CSC), followed by the Certified Chef de Cuisine (CCC). The next level includes either the Certified Executive Chef (CEC) or the Certified Executive Pastry Chef (CEPC). For those in the education field, the ACF also offers Certified Culinary Educator (CCE). The pinnacle of the certification ladder is becoming a Certified Master Chef (CMC).

I’d encourage each one of you to explore where your work experience places you on this continu-um, factor in points earned for education, classes, event participation, and begin the process of adding an ACF certification to your professional status and resume.

The minimum certification requests the applicant have a minimum of 3 years professional experi-ence, 3 mandatory classes in nutrition, supervision, and sanitation and passing a multiple choice exam with a score of 70% or better. The classes are available at several community colleges about town or online. The test can be taken at a local facility called Laser Grade or administered by a Certified Executive Chef (I’ve already proctored a number of these for fellow chefs).

It’s my wish, as certification chair, to assist any member interested in completing his/her certifica-tion process. It’s never too early or too late to start the ball rolling. I have ACF certification packets avail-able at all our monthly meetings. I’m more than willing to sit down and talk to you about where to start. If you are unable to make it to meetings, don’t hesitate to contact me at home (760) 737-0549 or via email (rreidiii@cox.net). More certification is also available at the ACF website www.ACFchefs.org/certify/crt.html

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November 2016

Chairman of the board Report David Chenelle

Hello all, I hope and pray that all are doing well. First off I apologize about being late at the General Meeting. I had business to tend to that needed my atten-tion. It seemed to be a good turnout. The seminar was interesting. I was delighted to see Urs Emmenegger and Gary Thompson attend. I am hoping to see more Attendance from the CCSD at our general meetings. I am sure Ricardo has filled you in on what is going on at Casa de Guadalajara as well as the passing of Chef Mike Ames. If we can get some nice raffle items to drive some funds up that would be appreciated.

Chefs de Cuisine Association of San Diego Education Foundation, Inc. The CDCEF has a couple of Board seats open for the Board of Directors. We are looking for a person that has experience with nonprofit foundations, specifically with grant writing. That would benefit the CDCEF greatly. The website is about to be launched. It is looking fantastic.

Apprenticeship Program An update on this program, Chef Tonya Whitfield and Chef Mike Fitzgerald have successfully implemented the apprenticeship program at Mesa College for 2017. Thanks, go to both for doing a great job at getting this done in record time. We now have an official Apprenticeship program. I will be needing to host a meeting for the Apprenticeship council. This council will screen and interview appren-tices and pick from the applicants as to who is qualified to be an apprentice. Not just anybody can qualify. You need to have fulfilled the requirements listed below. Apprenticeship is not meant to be easy or being a kickback type of job. It is tough and demanding as it places the Apprentice in the fray of a professional kitchen. The expectations are high and only those that have demonstrated the ability, commitment and passion to learn, have basic knife skills, are willing to do what it takes to fulfill the 4,000 hours on the job training and 448 hours of related instruction of accredited units at Mesa College can apply. Apprenticeship is not for dreamers or wannabees. It is for the serious culinarian that needs to be given a chance to be launched into the professional world of Culinary Arts. Upon gradu-ation, the apprentice will earn a lifelong Certified Culinarian category from the Department of Labor and can apply to become a Certified Sous Chef (CSC) from the ACF. Upon the successful completion, of the CSC category this will launch the apprentice into management if they market themselves. It is a program that creates success and ZERO STUDENT DEBT! As a matter of fact, it creates wealth by paying the apprentice at the job then upon successful com-pletion enabling them to become eligible for salaried management positions

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American Culinary Federation Chef De Cuisine Education Foundation Apprenticeship ProgramCurriculum Outline

I have another appointment with the Department of Labor that will be dealing with another aspect of the De-partment. This program pays half of the wages for the first 6 months of an employee’s wage. My goal is to have these two departments work together, the apprenticeship program and the workforce innovation and opportunity act. If I can get these two to work harmoniously then it becomes a great benefit to the employer and the value of hiring ap-prentices greatly increases. Below is the description and link to the program.If you are looking to hire in the near future, we offer a Wage Reimbursement Program that will award employers 50% - 75% of the employee’s salary for the first 6 months of their employment. We work with the Federal Government, State and County of San Diego as well as community partners with the goal of finding jobs for displaced workers and helping companies like yours with their hiring needs and to offset training costs. https://www.doleta.gov/WIOA/

Apprenticeship RequirementsSchool for related instruction: Mesa Community CollegeAll fees are unknown as of now as the curriculum is being processed by the Mesa College Dean of Education and such fees will be established soon.Apprenticeship enrollment ideally will be every semester if and only if we have enough Apprentices to hold a class.Tuition currently is not paid by the employer. As an apprentice, you are considered a working professional making a wage. The Chefs de Cuisine Assn of San Diego Education Foundation (CDCEF) is the overseer and funding entity for the apprenticeship program while the ACF Chefs de Cuisine Assn of San Diego (CDC) is the local ACF sponsoring chapter. The CDCEF will help defray some cost but is not geared to paying the full tuition or fees an apprentice will encounter. The employers of this date do not have a program that helps pays for tuition

Prerequisites: Before you are even considered you1. Must have worked in the food service business a minimum of one year as a prep cook or higher. No chef wants an absolute novice in their kitchen and be paying for it.2. Must pass an interview with the apprenticeship council. This judge’s commitment, passion, attitude and your general character. This is not about food knowledge.3. Must pass a basic handwritten test based on kitchen equipment, technique and basic language.4. Must pass a basic practical exam. (Show us what is a Julienne cut, large dice, med dice, etc.)5. Must have reliable transportation6. Must understand written and verbal instructions in English7. No sexual felony criminal record. Once you pass the prerequisites, you Must join the ACF as a Student Culinarian.Must be capable and willing to pay all tuition/fees in a timely manner.Must enroll at Mesa Community College under the Apprenticeship course.Must look for a sponsoring house to accept you as an apprentice.

Employment:There are sponsoring houses that will accept apprentices. This is a two year contract that both the Apprentice and Employer need to honor. If an apprentice starts to jump from one restaurant to the next based on whatever reason then the apprentice will be dismissed from the program and all expenses paid by the CDCEF for that apprentice will need to be refunded back to the foundation by the apprentice. If an apprentice is not showing up for related instruction at Mesa College then the apprentice can be dismissed from the program after an investigation is held. Again all expenses paid by the CDCEF for that apprentice will need to be refunded back to the foundation by the apprentice.

Apprenticeship Program

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Tonight’s dinner was at Grossmont College, and if you didn’t attend then you missed out on an exceptional meal. I for one do not usually care for salmon, but I have to tell you it was the most delicious entree I have ever eaten. It was totally surprised me. The appetizer was beer cheddare soup with a soft handmade pretzel, the entree was pan seared salmon with blueberry sauce, arugula salad with white balsamic vinaigrette, and roasted fingerling potatoes. In addition, are dessert was a chocolate lava cake with a graham twill cookie, caramel sauce, and cheesecake icecream. Furthermore, the food was pre-pared by the culinary students at Grossmont College. It was by far one of the best meals I have ever had the pleasure of eating. If you did not attend the meeting you surely missed out on a great night.

We had quite a few distinguished guest who came to dinner with us at Grossmont College. Chef Urs Emmenegger, President ACF CCSD, Gary Thompson, Vice President, Elizabeth Vaughan from Good Food Showcase, Marco Ochoa of West Coast Prime Meats, and Jeff Moore, President of International Pacific Sea-foods give us a very informational lesson on fish. Jeff did an amazing job and spoke a lot on sourcing and where the market is on various seafood.

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November Birthdays:

Donna Small 11-7David Cross 11-8Britney Jewell 11-10Mike Wade 11-14Karl Klein 11-14Robert McMains, 11-15Timothy Ernst, 11-16Dal Smith, 11-18Tonya Whitfield 11-20John Bennett, 11-23Andre Harris 11-24Jose Duran, 11-25Jeniree Vasquez-Simmons 11-30

November Wedding Anniversaries:

Raul Hernandez, 11-27Karl Engstrom, 11-30

News of Interest for and about members of the Chefs de Cuisine Association of San Diego

Matthew Baker, Feast On This

Cell Phone: (858)405-8277Office Phone: (866)552-1601Email Home: matthew@feastonthis.com

OTHER NEWS Remember that we welcome your ideas and participa-tion. We have an open-door policy. Please check our facebook page and website out for our upcoming meetings. Our application for membership can be downloaded from the website along with a lot more current information. Please check it out at:https://sandiegochefsdecuisine.squarespace.com/ Our facebook page always has current news, photos, updates and current trends. Especially this past November. Please check it out. Chefs de Cuisine Assn of San Diego FB: https://www.facebook.com/sdchefsdecuisine?ref=hl

Chefs de Cuisine Assn of San Diego Education Founda-tion: https://www.facebook.com/Chefs-de-Cuisine-Association-of-San-Diego-Education-Foundation-inc-178158552579927/

Now with all of that said, I do hope to see all of you out at our next general meeting.

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Prioritize Year-End Tax Strategy in Q4

As we begin the fourth quarter of 2016, year-end tax strategies are an important priority. Tax advisers will be busy until the October 17th extension deadline, so Indevia Accounting encourages you to

schedule a review session now.

According to the 2016 Year-End Tax Planning Guide prepared by Caler, Donten, Levine, Cohen, Porter & Veil, P.A., planning may be less challenging for business owners in 2016 than in previous years.

Below are some of the tips outlined in the guide. This is not intended to be a substitute for the advice of a tax professional.

• A net operating loss can be anticipated and planned for. If your business shows a loss for this

year, you can carry the loss back over the last two years and possibly receive an income tax refund for those years. You also have the option of forgoing the NOL and carrying it forward to balance out future taxable income.

• 2016 asset purchases below $500,000 can be expensed in full for the year, rather than depreciat-ing over a longer period. See Section 179 for further details.

• For specific types of new assets bought between 2015 and 2017, a bonus depreciation of an im-mediate 50% write-off is available. Percentages decrease after December 31, 2017.

o This deduction can be used to create a net operating loss.

• For businesses with audited financial statements, costs below $5,000 are “de minimis” asset purchases and can be expensed. Without an audit, the threshold is $2,500.

• Contributions to your own retirement plan, as well as plans for eligible employees, can be a smart way to take deductions. For a 401(k) in 2016, the maximum addition is the lesser of $53,000 or 100% of compensation.

For more information and details, please see your tax adviser. Indevia is here to answer any questions you may have about your bookkeeping needs. With best wishes for a prosperous fourth quarter,

Reprinted from foodnbeverage.org

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Buy The FARM

Many chefs and restaurateurs say they sup-port local farms, but others go above and beyond simply showcasing a few items on their menus. They buy out entire farms and crop lines, plan out shares, hire farmers and donate funds for equip-ment and other needs. All this paves paths for these farmers to ex-perience even more financial growth. Some chefs see this as the next level of sustainability, ensuring that small, responsible and in some cases, organic, farmers will be able to stick around and provide access to delicious food for years to come. Here are four model operators pushing the boundaries when it comes to supporting farmers in life-changing ways.

Dig Inn Dig Inn, the Manhattan, New York-based fast-casual chain known for its meals that use or-ganic and sustainably grown ingredients, is in the process of buying a farm to grow its own food in 2017, says founder and CEO Adam Eskin. “The Dig Inn farm will be a living lab for growing food-a place to train farmers and chefs and model our definition of sustainability,” he says. “Budding chefs will have a tangible connection to the seasons-learning to cook the same sweet po-tatoes they harvest firsthand in our fields. And our onsite research-and-development team will work with fresh heirloom produce to create vegetable-forward dishes. Mostly we want to cultivate a com-munity of families, schools, local organizations, farmers and chefs around a space that inspires, ex-cites and transforms the future of food.” The chain plans to grow vegetables for the restaurants, but the farm will mostly be used as a type of lab where staff can experiment with spe-cialty herbs and heirloom seed varieties, Eskin says. The majority of the produce will continue to come from long-standing farm partners to make sure their relationships are still economically vi-able.

In addition to buying a farm, Dig Inn also helped R&R Produce, a family farm in Goshen, New York, buy a refrigerated truck and the owners to attend a two-day learning session on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) certification, a voluntary audit that verifies fruits and vegetables are produced, packaged, handled and stored as safely as possible to minimize risks of micro-bial food-safety hazards. Dig Inn also continues to support local farms by buying full volumes of produce. For example, if the chain “overbuys” kale, chefs create another dish using the excess or help resell the surplus on behalf of the farmers. Historically, farmers have often been burned by buyers who find something cheaper and purchase out-side of the contract, Eskin says. “Our company is made up of integral people who are committed to a higher purpose, which means we don’t cut corners, even when it can save us a quick buck. We design out menus around our farms, availability and current harvest rather than vice versa. This way our farmers have a secure volume and cash flow going into a new season, and we have a variety of rare and heirloom vegetables.”

Magnolia’s at the Mill For the past 12 years, Erik Foxx-Nettnin, execu-tive chef at Magnolia’s at the Mill, Purcellville, Virginia, has committed to buying entire crops from local farm-ers to help support their businesses, even in the midst of a crisis. “It’s important to maintain a partnership with the farmers around you and commit to them no mat-ter what. It’s no different than a family or other close relationship,” says Foxx-Nettnin. Most recently, when a new, budding farmer suddenly came down with a tem-porary debilitating illness, Foxx-Nettnin continued to work with the farm to receive and pay for the supply as promised.

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This was especially important, considering the young farmer had just begun to build her certified or-ganic farm, and Foxx-Nettnin had committed to buy-ing 90 lines she planted specifically for the restau-rant. This included everything from heirloom squash to multiple tomato varieties as well as various types of potatoes, Brussels sprouts, fennel, radishes, beets, heirloom peppers, onion, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflow-er and greens. In fact, it was so much produce that he only had to source small amounts of other produce, like citrus, not grown locally. Foxx-Nettnin sat down with the farmer and a seed catalogue ahead of the season to choose the crops with plans to note what worked and what didn’t so they could make adjustments the following year. Regarding the health hiccup, he says, “Think of it as a family birthday party. If your family was planning on bringing dishes and all of a sudden something hap-pened and someone couldn’t contribute, you wouldn’t cancel the party. You would just regroup with what you had or could still get.” In the same vein, when it comes to farming, “You don’t know what life-changing event or rainstorm or other issue could come and ruin everything and put off production for five days,” Foxx-Nettnin says. It might stall the menu roll-out, but it’s the right thing to still buy the crop when it becomes available or buy other crops to continue to support the farmer financially. Additionally, Foxx-Nettnin is committed to hosting events that financially support both the restaurant and the farmer. Working with local farms is about more than receiving a con-tainer of stuff and paying an invoice, he says.

Smörgås Chef Restaurant Group/Blenheim Hill Farm When Morten Sohlberg, owner of Smörgås Chef Restaurant Group, purchased the 125-acre Blenheim Hill Farm in New York’s Catskills Moun-tains six years ago, he was able to return the 225-year-old landmark to full-scale farming, after years of dormancy. Since then, he has hired local farmers to help run the farm. Yet he still remains involved, working at the farm himself three days a week in addition to running his Smörgås Chef res-taurants in Manhattan, the Michelin-starred Blen-heim in the West Village and Crepes du Nord, a casual mini-chain with three locations in the city. “In most cases, the farmers we hire need more ex-perience or more hours and income. This provides a synergy between our farm and theirs, because we are able to share knowledge, supplies and other needs to benefit each other,” says Sohlberg. “Farming takes a lifetime to learn, so it’s important to be able to share information and not just resources.” For example, the farm manager at Blenheim also manages her own dairy farm. Since dairy op-erations typically require at least 50 cows to be a justifiable business, Sohlberg purchases her dairy products rather than attempt to run his own dairy operation. Sohlberg also works with another nearby farmer with an apiary who helped set up Blen-heim’s beekeeping operation and shares in some of the returns for the honey. Same thing for maple syrup. Sohlberg pays the farmer to help collect and boil the syrup since he has all the equipment. Ad-ditionally, Sohlberg works with a few other farms that produce hay, paying for the supply during the cold winter months. “Our mission in becoming local farmers is two-fold,” Sohlberg says. “In addition to being good stewards of the land and its resources, we want to provide the 300,000-plus guests we serve each year with natural, sustainable and locally grown produce and meat while simultaneously develop-ing a financially viable model for small-scale local farming.”

Magnolia’s at the Mill

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Cura Hospitality

Cura Hospitality Inc., Orefield, Pennsylvania, the food and dining operator for Peter Becker Com-munity, a senior living and hospital facility in Harleysville, Pennsylvania, recently partnered with Living Hope Farm located just two miles away as the main supplier for its new bi-weekly farmers market avail-able to all residents, employees and guests. “We incorporated the farmers market in our program of pushing local sourcing opportunities be-yond just buying from regional farms,” says Cura Hospitality’s general manager Josh Crandall. While the farmers market features products from such other local vendors as a coffee roaster, win-ery and artisan food and meat producer, Cura Hospitality avoids bringing in competing produce suppliers. For an educational component, Cura Hospitality hosts cooking demos to educate shoppers on how to use some of Living Hope Farm’s produce, so they’re more inclined to buy it. Crandall also takes groups of senior residents on farm tours so they can learn more about the organic operations, hoop house and composting program and feel a greater sense of connection to the cause. “Living Hope Farm has become a great partner, not just as a primary vendor for our farmers mar-ket, but also as a main supplier for our restaurants,” says Crandall, who often receives calls from the farm when there are opportunities to buy surplus harvest. “I’ll jump in my car and pick up 50 pounds of water-melon at the last minute.” Crandall has also been working with a local beekeeper to set up three beehives on campus. The beekeeper covers the upfront cost of maintaining the hives, but the facility buys back the honey produced to cover those dollars. The honey is primarily used in vinaigrettes for local farm salads featuring micro greens grown in the main kitchen. Cura Hospitality’s goal is to source the majority of its produce from Living Hope Farm in order to support one farm more significantly, rather than diversify funds too widely across many farms. “I look at it like a bull’s-eye,” Crandall says. “There are things we can do well right in our own kitchen and our community, while also continuing to look for opportunities beyond that.” Written by Amelia Levin is an award-winning food industry writer, certified chef and cookbook au-thor. Her work has appeared in a variety of restaurant industry trade magazines as well as in the Chicago Tribune, Health and Cooking Light magazines.

Buy The FARM

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Chefs de Cuisine Association of

San Diego

2016 Purveyor of the Year

Chefs de Cuisine Association of San Diego, CA, Inc.2091 Shelter Island Drive San Diego, CA 92106

www.sdchefs.org