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2008 has been a Banner year for the Chef’s Association of Arizona. We celebrated the culmination of our chapter’s mergers and years success during the Annual Chef of the Year Dinner. The dinner was hosted by the JW Marriot Desert Ridge Resort and was attended by almost 300 members, students, partners, and guests. It was first class all the way! Special thanks to Vipin Khullar, F&B Director of JW Marriott, and his staff for a wonderful and memorable evening.

The Chef’s Association is proud to have designated CCAP, Careers Through Culinary Arts Programs, as the primary beneficiary of our charitable functions. A scholarship in the name of the Chef’s Association of Arizona will be awarded to a deserving CCAP student this spring at the annual CCAP scholarship breakfast.

Congratulations are in order for Chef Stanly Reinhold for being elected the Chef’s Association 2008 Chef of the Year. Special congratulations go to Chef’s Webb Evans and Carlton Brooks, for receiving the first local Presidential Medallions. These medallions were awarded for their superior dedication to the continued success and management of our chapter. We would not be where we are today without their long-term contributions. Well done gentlemen! Brian Dragos, CEC, CCE, AAC, was also recognized for being elected into the ACF American Academy of Chefs, or the Honor Society of the ACF. This is a great honor.

Congratulations must also be made to the team of chefs representing the chapter in the Culinary Olympics in Erfurt, Germany this past October. Chef’s Philip Sayre, CEC, CCE, Chef Santos Villarico, CEC, of Scottsdale Culinary Institute, and Chef Eric Watson, MBA, CCC, CCE, of The International Culinary School at the Art Institute of Phoenix, competed and brought home 3 silver and 1 bronze medal. The team was managed and coached by Chef Walter Leible, CMC, and Chef Bill Sy, MBA, CEC, CMC-China, both of the International Culinary Schools. This is a great accomplishment for all these dedicated chefs.

The Chef’s Association will be celebrating the end of 2008 at Turf Paradise. Our annual Day at the Races event will be held at Turf Paradise on Saturday, December 27, 2008. Tickets are available for $30.00. Ticket price includes entrance, parking, buffet lunch, private betting booths and the view is from the director’s suite overlooking the track. Tickets are available on our Web Site at www.acfaz.org.

2008 also brought us Heidi Lee and the formation of a chapter PR Director. I want to personally thank Heidi Lee for all her efforts and accomplishments throughout 2008. We could not have had the success we did without her passionate involvement and dedication to the chapter.

2009 will begin with our annual Education Symposium. Hosted by Chef Jack Kirby and Shamrock Foods, the chapter will hold an all day event filled with a variety of educational seminars and demonstrations. Over 12 hours of CEU’s will be available. This event is on Monday, January 12, 2009, from 9:30am-7:00 pm. Our Board meeting will be held at 3:30pm followed by the General meeting and buffet dinner at 5:00pm. A more formal schedule of events will follow.

Thank you to Chef Michael Mauri and SYSCO Foods for hosting our November meeting. In conjunction with Phillips Crab and Points West, Food Sales Specialists and Todds, the meeting was a great success and the lecture on Food Costing was both informative and enlightening.

A local ACF Chapter Survey is on its way to our members and partners. Please look out for this e-mail and let us know how we can better serve our membership and community. All comments and suggestions are always welcome. Please e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to be placed on our mailing list. We look forward to seeing you at the track on December 27^th. Have a Happy and Safe Holiday season.

Eric Watson, MBA, CCC, CCE

Chapter President

Presidents Message June 2008

Dear ACF Members and Guests,

Welcome to the Chef’s Association of Arizona. We have had quite a spring and are rolling right into the hot summer months. Our June meeting at Casino Arizona was awesome and I wish to thank Chef Paul Herron and the staff at Casino Arizona for doing such a great job. It was great to have students there as well. The buffet was fantastic and the representation from many local brokers made the meeting feel a bit like a mini food show. Just awesome!

Although we will not have a general meeting in July, many of us are headed to the ACF National Convention. We will have a board meeting on July 21 at the Art Institute. We have an excellent line up of meeting throughout the rest of the year.

Our August Meeting will be held at National Restaurant Supply. They have opened a beautiful new showroom and warehouse at 5010 S. 48th St., Phoenix, AZ  85040. Our host is Ken Gillies. The meeting will feature a presentation from Electrolux Professional Co. of North American and Southwest Foodservice Equipment Marketing. Featured equipment will be the Electrolux Air-O-Speed Combi Oven, the fastest combi oven in the world, the Air-O-Blast Chiller and Freezer, the Thermaline Modular Cooking Line and the Pressure Braising Pan.

Dinner will be demonstrated and prepared by Chef’s Claudo Gabriel Ferrer-Groendijk, CEC, CCE, representing Electrolux International, and by “The Champagne Chef” Keith Jones.

Also featured at will be an informational presentation from the Arizona Restaurant Association about the benefits and opportunities the ARA has to offer the hospitality industry in Arizona. Discounts for equipment and tools are available and a special door prize will be raffled. See you there!

We are headed to the JW Marriott Desert Ridge in September and the JW Marriott Camelback Inn in October!

Chef of the Year planning continues and we hope to announce to the location and date of the dinner at or before the August meeting.

Our August meeting will be the final opportunity to nominate fellow chefs for the Che of the Year as well as for all open chapter officer positions.

We hope you can join us and we look forward to seeing you.

For interest in the ACF Chefs Association of Arizona, please contact Chef Eric Watson at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or at 602-505-2600. Please visit our Web Site at www.acfaz.org.

Presidents Message MAY 2008

Dear ACF Members and Guests,

Welcome to the Chefs Association of Arizona. The Chefs Association of Arizona is now official, with the ratification of new by-laws and official name change with the corporation commission and national chapter. Over the next several weeks, we will be receiving our new chapter ID number from the national office, and all members will be receiving new membership cards with their existing membership numbers and the new chapter name and number. Also, the Web Site on the national ACF site will be updated to reflect our new name and chapter. I would like to thank the chapter members at large for their patience and trust in the merger process. Specifically, I would like to thank Chef Web Evans, for his tireless work on the by-laws and for his 4-plus hour commute to present them to the chapter for ratification. Our April meeting, hosted and cooked for by Chef Brian Dragos, was the location for our by-law ratification meeting.

Presidents Message March 11, 2008

Dear ACF Members and Guests,

Welcome to the Chef

The following is a copy of a letter mailed on Jan.1, 2008 to all active members.

Dear ACF Members,

We hope this letter finds you well and enjoying the holiday season. Board leadership from the Chef's Association of Greater Phoenix, The ACF Resort and Country Club Chef's Association, and the ACF Valley of the Sun Chef's Association (merger board) have met in the best interest of the local Arizona ACF chapters in an effort to move forward in a consolidation into one organized and resourceful chapter. We are making great progress and the interests and historical relevance of all chapters is being highly considered. The first steps of the merger process have been negotiated and the following is the direction we have chosen to proceed with.