We are excited to continue the ICCA/GCIA Covid-19 Webinar Series: Chain New Menu Developers Best Practices for Today & Planning for the Future. The next one for our members and sponsors is Wednesday, August 5th from 4:00 – 5:00 pm and will continue every other Wednesday. This week’s webinar will feature Michael LaDuke, VP Corporate Executive Chef for The Capital Grille; John Frick, Director of Menu Development for Eat’n Park Hospitality Group & Janet Armstrong, Senior Technical Sales & Culinary Manager for Mars Foodservices US. Here is a link to register for the next Webinar. Below are links to all seven webinars in the series that have happened every other week since the end of April:
The featured members and sponsor for the seventh webinar in the series were Dave Woolley, Director of Culinary for Buffalo Wild Wings; Desmond Fannin, Director, Culinary Training & Support for Sodexo North America and Chris Rheault, Vice President Operations for Fresh Concepts. Jack Li, Datassential’s Haiku Master also joined our team with insights from their research at Datassential. Below are all seven video recordings from our ICCA/GCIA Webinar Series:
The video below from the ICCA/GCIA 6th Webinar featured Jeff Sinelli, CEO and Chief Vibe Officer for Which Wich, Burguesa Burgers, Paciugo Gelato & Caffè and Supernova Coffee; Matt Harding, Senior VP of Culinary & Menu Innovation for Piada Italian Street Food; and Jennifer Rolander, VP of Business Development for Tuxton China. The videos below are from all six Webinars in the series: GCIA/ICCA Covid-19 Webinar Series: Chain New Menu Developers Best Practices for Today & Planning for the Future will be continued every other Wednesday. Email Kevin@ICCAchefs.com to get a link to register. Here is the video recording form the July 8th webinar:
The following members and sponsors contributed to the June 24th Webinar:
Farley Kaiser, Culinary Innovation Manager for Wawa: Wawa remained open throughout the pandemic. Though traffic took a hit they saw the immediate need to react to the consumer needs of catering and delivery which drove their prioritization efforts and innovation at lightning speed. Evaluating every touch point, creating efficiencies but more importantly keeping customers as safe as possible is their contribution in flattening the curve.
Quinn Adkins, Director of Menu Development for Culvers Franchising Systems: Culvers dusted off an old strategy for curbside delivery immediately. Take-away has also been a major success for them through this pandemic as they showed positive comps verses last May. This is before the plan to reopen dine-in across the country. Both of these corporate chefs talked about the challenges with distribution and staffing they have been experiencing.
Rick Kirkpatrick, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Sweet Street Desserts: Prepackaged desserts sales are soaring as the pipeline for all desserts continues to fill the distribution systems throughout the US. Rick discussed the challenges of forecasting as their plants capacity increases to fit the needs of their customers including the largest chains in America.
The following members and sponsors contributed to the June 10th Webinar:
Alex Sadowsky, Concept Chef for Twin Peaks talked about the fact they have opened all Twin Peaks restaurants and the challenging decision they made opening their restaurants with four stages for the menu. He also shared the successes from units pacing ahead of last year and other successful concepts under the Frontburner Restaurants umbrella during these challenging times.
Matt McMillin, Vice President of Culinary & Beverage Innovation for Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurants talked to us about their successful openings of restaurants over the past two weeks. Take-away is a major success for them through this pandemic and they now also have plans for virtual wine pairings. Both of these corporate chefs talked about the challenges with distribution and staffing they have been experiencing.
James Bickmore-Hutt, Culinary R&D Manager, Corporate Chef for Dole Packaged Foods talked about their recent successes in everything from non-commercial to major chains during the past few weeks. They have also created innovative ways to help our members who might be experiencing limited sources of fruit items for their menus as we recover and continue to open additional units nationwide. Their innovation pipeline has changed drastically during these past two months.
The following members and sponsors contributed to the third Webinar.
Keith Brunell, Corporate Executive Chef of Nordstrom Restaurant Division talked about the challenges they faced opening 18 operations recently in phase 1 and their plan to open 32 more on Thursday, May 28th.
Ken Komejan; VP of Foodservice for Greenleaf Foods, Field Roast & Lightlife talked about the effect on plant-based industry during this pandemic and what the industry feels will happen as we move forward. Their pipeline has changed drastically during these past two months.
Shane Schaibly, Corporate Chef & Director of Culinary Operations for First Watch Restaurants talked to us about their very successful openings of 18 restaurants in two test markets leading them to a plan to open 200 restaurants on June 1st. The test markets were in Nashville, Tennessee and Sarasota, Florida and featured their full menu.
Here is the video recording for the third Webinar on May 27:
Below are links to the first two GCIA/ICCA Covid-19 Webinar Series: Chain New Menu Developers Best Practices for Today & Planning for the Future The first one featuring Donald Moore, Chief Culinary Officer/ Executive Vice President of Kitchen Operations, The Cheesecake Factory; Mike Turner, Vice President of Culinary/Supply Chain and Karl Kaufman, Director of National Accounts for Jennie-O Turkey Store along with Jack Li, Haiku Master for Datassential. The second we talked about the R & D process in your home kitchen waiting for your corporate test kitchen to reopen and virtual; innovation session plus how full service restaurants just opening for dining in are doing. That one from May 13th features Shona Jonson, Sr. Manager Menu Development for Chick-fil-A; Steve Sturm, Executive Chef at Firebirds Wood Fired Grill and RJ Harvey, Director of Culinary for Potatoes USA :
ICCA Culinary Immersions are a deep dive into the food and beverage scene of the best culinary destinations in the USA and, in this case, North America. For the first time we selected Toronto as a destination and it ended up being one of the most educational and impressive events ever. Here is a recap of the activities through the voices of our members who received the education of a lifetime:
Twice a year we create ICCA Culinary Immersions where 15 members and five sponsors take a deep dive into a major culinary destination in North America. These events have taken us to Chicago, Philadelphia, Vancouver and this ICCA Culinary Immersion that recently took place in Austin, Texas. Just below are the other videos recapping the member experience at our events including on ICCA Culinary Immersion that was expanded to take in numerous cities in one state – ALASKA:
The 16th Annual ICCA Summit Napa Valley was recently held in 2018 where three of the highly rated sessions were focused on trends. TV star and author Simon Majumdar; Technomics experts Marie Molde and Colleen McClellan and the duo of Maeve Webster plus Cathy Nash Holley were combined in this video. There are many ideas members left the ICCA Summit with this year and this video captures some of the best highlights about the choices today’s consumers make:
Here is the final video shown at the 16th Annual ICCA Summit Napa Valley recapping the activities for the Culinary Road Trips visiting various wineries, restaurants and other culinary stops in both Napa and Sonoma Valley:
The ICCA Culinary Immersions have become extremely popular with members and sponsors. These two-day intensive programs immerse you into a unique culinary destination where you might actually visit as many as 20 restaurants with most of them including round-table discussions with the city’s trend leaders. Recent cities with videos you can watch below in our video posts include Philadelphia, Chicago, LA and Vancouver, BC. Here is the latest ICCA Culinary Immersion in perhaps one of the greatest cities for southern Cuisine – Charleston, SC:
Here is a video from a recent ICCA Culinary Immersion in Philadelphia that also includes manufacturing tours to the mushroom capital of the country and the nation’s leading dessert manufacturer:
The 15th Anniversary ICCA Summit was an amazing event held in Portland, Oregon. From the award winning chefs and the expert speakers ICCA members and sponsors learned about the top trends in new menu development. Here are some new ideas from Portland’s trend-setting chefs:
Katherine Cole, host and executive producer of The Four Top, a national James Beard Award-nominated podcast streamed on NPR One, and a 13 year veteran of The Oregonian newspaper spoke to ICCA members about trends and more …
Marie Molde, Client Solutions Specialist at Datassential offered insights into the latest trends at the ICCA Summit in Portland …
Below are examples of sessions during the 15th Anniversary ICCA Summit in Portland featuring Jack Ji from Datassential showcasing the top trends over the last 15 years and Chandra Ram’s unique look into the best new menu items from US chain restaurants:
This is a video we showed to open our General Session at the 15th Anniversary ICCA Summit in Portland, Oregon. It is a short glimpse back at the educational programming and networking from each year and the amazing members we have had involved over all of these years:
Here is a look back at 15 years of Culinary Road Trips at the ICCA Summits and the variety of food related activities we have learned from over the years:
Along with our Sister association the GCIA, Global Culinary Innovators Association we traveled through the entire state of Wisconsin to tour a variety of cheese manufacturers, milk producers and dairy farms. With over 900 miles under our belts, we are happy to share this information on cheese-making with you.
The sister association to the ICCA is the GCIA, Global Culinary Innovators Association who traveled to Chicago a few months ago and experienced the food scene in two intense days with their immersion event. We saw some Trend Setting Concepts at Lettuce Entertain You’s Restaurant Beatrix , Chef Stephanie Izard’s Little Goat Diner and Duck Duck Goat plus we heard from Chef Rick Bayless about his restaurants while demonstrating his amazing Mexican Chocolate and Churos.
Also our sister association the GCIA, Global Culinary Innovators Association traveled to Chicago and experienced the food scene. They saw some of the top trending restaurants in the area like Piccolo Sogno with Chef Tony Priolo. Chef John Manion and his El Che Bar along with Duck Duck Goat, one of Chef Stephanie Izard’s locations.
This video from our latest ICCA Culinary Immersion LA in late February 2017 helps to showcase the quality of education our new menu developer members can experience at every ICCA event. Here is a glimpse into the knowledge shared by LA’s celebrity chefs and our day on the tour with Food Network’s Simon Majumdar Tasting his favorite menu items:
Here are our first two videos from the ICCA Culinary Immersion Vancouver. ICCA members said the first video filmed the night we dined at Miku showcases perhaps the most amazing sushi restaurant in North America and in the second video David Hawksworth shares the successful menu items at his award winning Hawksworth and Nightingale restaurants in Vancouver, BC.
As you know three years ago we started a sister association for chains ranked 201 – 400 in annual sales it is called the Global Culinary Innovators Association (GCIA). Here is a video from their recent educational event in Atlanta featuring Steve Nedvidek, Innovation Specialist for the past 28 years at Chick-fil-A. Hear about their road map to success through innovation and learn valuable lessons to be used in your organization. This is the entire 52 minute presentation and worth every minute to watch it even if you need to break it down into short viewing sessions.
Here is the first edited video from the ICCA Summit in Nashville. Stay tuned for more educational take-aways from this creative event in Nashville in the coming weeks:
We had several requests for an opportunity to see the very popular educational sessions from our ICCA Summit in Nashville in their entirety. So for the first time in our 14 year history we have created videos of three educational sessions the first is the dynamic due from Strategic Hospitality Ben & Max Goldberg who share their successes and challenges in nine of their restaurant brands. Click here for the Strategic Hospitality Video. To view the entire video you will need to download it into your dropbox or on your computer.
The other full session video is from our opening general session with the famous songwriters from Nashville. Together they have more than 20 #1 hits and they share their stories behind working with these artists including Brad Paisley, Kenny Chesney, Rascal Flats and Blake Sheldon to name a few. Click here to see the Nashville Songwriters Roundtable at the ICCA Summit. To view the entire video you will need to download it into your dropbox or on your computer.
This is an amazing video from our ICCA Culinary Immersion DC recently. If you are at all interested or passionate about Whiskey, Bourbon and/or Scotch you must see this video narrated by Bill Thomas, the second largest collector of whiskey in the nation. Along with his partner Steve King, their collection at Jack Rose Dining Saloon is nearly 3000 bottles. Here is their passionate contemporary history on the whiskey business:
This video from the ICCA Immersion DC showcases our amazing three-and-a-half hours we spend with Jose Andres dining at four of his restaurants and touring his Think Food Group Test Kitchen.
This is a preview from our last ICCA Summit in Portland, Maine showcasing the quality of educational programming for our upcoming ICCA Summit in Nashville from June 26 – 29, 2016
ICCA Membership video
ICCA Summit San Diego
Tour a 120 acre California Avocado Grove with Farmer Mike Sanders
Join us for a view inside of one of the World’s most advanced Avocado Processing Plants
Farm-to-Cup Coffee with Bruce Mullins, Farmer Brothers VP Coffee Culture
ICCA 11th Annual Summit Video Series, Miami, Florida
Millennials; The Link to Your Chains Future
FoodIQ’s Mindy Armstrong & Cari Price’s presentation at ICCA Summit in Miami
Keynote Speaker Simon Majumdar’s Videos
Simon Majumdar’s New Menu Ideas
Simon Majumdar’s Global Culinary Trends
ICCA Culinary Immersion Denver
ICCA member’s exclusive tour of Fruition Farms with Alex Seidel at the ICCA Culinary Immersion Denver
ICCA Fruition Farms Tour during ICCA Culinary Immersion Denver
ICCA members and sponsors foraged for mushrooms at 9500 feet in the Rockies with mycologist Graham Steinruck
ICCA Culinary Immersion Denver Mushroom Foraging
New Orleans ICCA Culinary Immersion Videos
History of New Orleans Cuisine with Chef John Folse
History of New Orleans Cuisine from ICCA New Orleans Culinary Immersion
Borgne Restaurant Video with Chef-Owner John Besh
Borgne Restaurant Video with John Besh
K-Paul’s Restaurant Video with Chef Paul Prudhomme and Chef Paul Miller
K-Paul’s Restaurant Video with Chef Paul Prudhomme and Chef Paul Miller
Mondo Restaurant with Chef Susan Spicer
Mondo Restaurant with Chef Susan Spicer
Restaurant R’evolution Video with Chef John Folse
Restaurant R’evolution Video with Chef John Folse
ICCA Vintage Videos Austin, TX
Enjoy these brief educational video vignettes from our ICCA Summit in Austin
ICCA Austin Summit featuring Chris Lilly’s BBQ Presentation
ICCA Austin Summit featuring Stephen Gerike and Underutilized Cuts of Pork
ICCA Austin Summit featuring Barbecue Texas Style at The famous Salt Lick Bar-B-Que
ICCA Vintage Videos Seattle, WA
ICCA Seattle Summit Featuring Alaska Seafood & Captain Sig Hansen
ICCA Vintage Videos Charleston, SC
Enjoy these brief educational video vignettes from our ICCA Summit in Charleston, SC
ICCA Charleston Summit Featuring Cypress Chef Craig Deihl & Slightly North of Broad chef Frank Lee
ICCA Charleston Summit Featuring Chefs Ben and Karen Barker from Magnolia Grill
ICCA Vintage Videos Newport, RI
Enjoy these brief educational video vignettes from our ICCA Summit in Newport, RI
ICCA Newport Summit Featuring a Traditional Clam & Lobster Bake with a 3rd Generation Bake Master
ICCA Newport Summit Featuring a 4th Generation Lobsterman, Farm Raised Mussels and Clams
Meat & Livestock Australia Red Meat Tour with ICCA Chefs
ICCA Chef Members Stephen Bulgarelli and Rick Wolf Tour Australia with MLA
ICCA Chef Members Stephen Bulgarelli and Rick Wolf Tour Australia with MLA
ICCA Vintage Videos
Click to see more vintage videos
If you want to keep the Olympic spirit alive after the games ended in Brazil; watch these two vintage videos from our ICCA vault:
Here is a link to the 1960 Culinary Olympics in Frankfurt, Germany where the USA won the Gold. It is a black & White video news clip produced by Lowell Thomas, one of the most famous voices of the time.
Below is another link from a “Cooks Tour of Brazil” trip in the early 1990’s focused on Acarajé, a very popular Brazilian street food.