Living the Corporate Life


Restaurant chefs get all the media attention, but top talent can be found everywhere in the profession. It’s absolutely true in the category of “corporate chef,” and it only makes sense: These chefs are responsible for feeding hundreds—if not thousands—of people a day.

Yes, they are responsible for exactly that. While the corporate chef might not be working the line every day or night, whether they work for a restaurant company or a foodservice management corporation, they are responsible for the menu quality, budgeting, food preparation—and the training of those doing the preparing—for numerous facilities and audiences. It’s a job that requires not just vast culinary knowledge, but management and training skills. Where a restaurant chef can be a dictator in their kitchen, a corporate chef must have a diplomatic streak to be successful.

Foodservice News recognizes the Top Corporate Chefs who, during 2009 and heading into 2010, have brought their company and its kitchens great success with their breadth of skills. The book, featuring chef biographies and recipes, is bundled with this issue, and available here for download on the FSN Web site.

To determine our top corporate chefs, we looked first at foodservice companies (from the stalwarts to the upstarts) and the diversity and quality of their food offerings. We then asked a lot of questions and observed as best we could company practices throughout the course of the year. We settled on 10 companies that we felt were tops in their field within the state in terms of consistency and innovation—or both—and how they are navigating a difficult economy.

Most of these companies employ a chef to oversee the food operations. Although one (Taher Inc.) has a dozen-plus member Chef Council, and two others—Wolfgang Puck Catering (20.21 and the Walker Art Center) and Bon Appetit (St. Olaf College)—are national companies that give considerable latitude to the chefs working at their locations. For example, Peter Abrahamson and Matthew Fogarty (general manager and executive chef, respectively) at St. Olaf have earned national attention for the food quality at the college.

Readers might ask, “Aren’t Bon Appetit and Wolfgang Puck Catering owned by the same company—Compass?”

Yes, they are. But, as Asher Miller, executive chef of 20.21 and the Walker Art Center Miller explained, Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining is still its own entity, under which 20.21 falls. The museum, however, falls under the Catering umbrella, and does answer to Compass. “We’re a hybrid because we do the fine dining and the catering,” Miller said. “What that means is, we’re financially beholding to Compass, but as far as the food that goes on the plate, it’s all Wolfgang.”

We felt there was enough autonomy between the Walker and St. Olaf accounts to warrant individual recognition.

Among the other companies recognized, Baja Sol is aggressively expanding beyond Minnesota’s borders and into casual dining. Parasole Restaurant Holdings continues to dominate the local restaurant market and recently revamped one of its Minneapolis anchor restaurants, Figlio, which reopened last month as Il Gatto. Another powerful player in the Twin Cities is D’Amico & Partners, which took over the restaurant and foodservice operations at the Chambers Hotel, and remains the foremost name for Italian-inspired cuisine with concepts ranging from the cafeteria-style D’Amico & Sons to the upscale Café & Bar Lurcat.

Carving out its own niche in the Twin Cities, however, is the Blue Plate Restaurant Company, with their “neighborhood”-style concepts and their inventive twist on comfort foods. And, as much as those restaurant companies dominate the Twin Cities, Grandma’s Restaurants and its concepts (including Grandma’s Saloon and the upscale Bellisio’s) has a grip on Duluth and the North Shore.

Then there are Taher Inc. and Lancer Catering, two large foodservice management companies that service accounts ranging from schools to museums to corporations. Both have stepped into the restaurant world, Lancer with Girvan Grille and Taher with multiple concepts, including the Timberlodge Steakhouse chain and the fine-dining, St. Paul stalwart Forepaugh’s.

And then there’s Macy’s, the national retail juggernaut, and its star-studded Culinary Council. Directing that company’s efforts to become the national culinary authority is Tim Scott. His efforts and responsibilities are enormous, and he’s based here, in Minneapolis (Remember Dayton’s, anyone?).

Common among these companies is the seriousness in which they take food and their menus, and all spend considerable resources to stay on the forefront of culinary trends. Leading the way for them are these talented corporate chefs, whose skills go far beyond the culinary.

Congratulations—and a very large thank-you—to all these corporate chefs included in Foodservice News’ Annual Chef Book.

Chef biographies complied in the Top Corporate Chefs book by Mike Mitchelson and Danielle McFarland.