Finally, a place for the hotel chef
As many Chefs Roll community members know, the life of a hotel chef is not like other chef gigs. What restaurant offers room service? Or has a swim-up bar? Or routinely caters banquets for 1000s of guests? Add in a corporate structure, (often) unionized labor and a diverse clientele from all over the world, and it’s easy to see that being a hotel chef presents unique challenges. And yet there has been no national gathering of hotel executive chefs to help inspire, educate and develop hotel talent to meet those challenges…until now.
The inaugural MISE 2017 Conference will be held in the emerging dining capital of the south, Atlanta, GA – at the Grand Hotel Hyatt, located in the heart of Atlanta’s upscale Buckhead neighborhood. From August 20-22, chefs will experience an unparalleled lineup of top-shelf speakers, workshops, networking and educational sessions highlighting topics from food & sustainability to social media marketing.
Chefs Roll spoke with Alexei Rudolf, the Director of Content for the upcoming MISE Conference. “We take our name from mise en place, as our conference will set hotel chefs up for career success as mise does for any chef in the kitchen,” he says. “We’d seen the need from both sides – hotel chefs looking for opportunities for education, career advancement and networking, and from the supplier community looking to reach them. We were tired of waiting for someone else to create something for hotel chefs, and took matters into our own hands.”
“We’re really proud of the lineup of speakers and sessions – from tackling local & sustainable, to food waste, to social media marketing and menu engineering, we are going right at the top challenges and opportunities facing hotel chefs.”
Add in time to explore the culinary hotspots of Atlanta, culinary demonstrations from Taylor Shellfish Farms, Barilla and beverage consultants Spirits in Motion, and it’s shaping up to be not just informative, but delicious and a whole lot of fun, besides.
“It’s hard for hotel brands to dedicate the time and resources for internal development – as the head chef you’re trusted and expected to figure it out and try to find what works.”
– Executive Chef Joe Natoli, Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort
“Being a hotel chef is very different from being a restaurant chef, and most of what’s out there for chef education and development is really not aimed at us.”
– Executive Chef Aaron Brooks, Four Seasons Miami
“The unique thing about being a hotel chef is the diversity; one day you’re feeding 500 people in a restaurant, and the next day it’s 1,500 at a banquet. There’s never a boring time. … Running hotels is like running a city … making sure people have all the things they need to conduct business, to enjoy themselves.”
– Executive Chef Thomas Horner, JW Marriott Palm Springs
Chefs Roll is a media partner to the inaugural event, and will be staging a special Chefs Plate competition during the conference. Our community has a number of members who will be in attendance. Will you be there?
MISE Conference 2017 Keynotes Include:
Farmer Lee Jones | The Chef’s Garden
Local & Sustainable, Untying the Knot
Kat Cole | CEO Focus Brands
Be a Leader of Innovation and Progress: How to Iterate, Adapt and Succeed Faster
Chef Gerry Ludwig | Gordon Food Service
Restaurant & Flavor Trends: A View from the Street
Libby Volgyes | LibbyVision
The Chef’s Eye: Using Photography to Market Your Food; introducing the social media challenge
For a full schedule, to learn more, and to register for the MISE 2017 Conference check out miseconference.com.
