Chefs Helping Chefs International

Busy Busy Month!!

Dec 122011

Hello Everyone! Back again from our travels and with the holiday season added to the mix, this past month has been quite full!!

In November we traveled back down to Jumby Bay ,a 300-acre private Caribbean island in Antigua, for some training to their Hospitality staff. 11 Food and Beverage Managers each received 16 hours of ServSafe Training for a total of 176 hours and 81 Food and Beverage Team Members each received 3 hours of Food Handlers Training for a total of 243 hours. Chef Matthew and I were treated like royalty. I want to send out a special thanks to Leisa McDonald, Executive Chef Yann Giacomoni, Executive Sous Chef Juan Bochenski and the entire Jumby Bay Staff.

This visit was definitely booked solid with some serious class time and everyone was a joy to spend the week with. As always, we’re looking forward to our next visit with them as they continue to keep their team trained and compliant with all areas of safe food handling and sanitation.

Then it was back to the States for a circuit around the county schools as a guest speaker to the Culinary Technical Classes. There are a lot of promising Chefs coming out of those programs and it’s so exciting to be a part of their education.

Many of the students participated in a day of helping the less fortunate when we went back to the Christian Care Center to prepare some great food for their daily meal at their Men’s Center. All are welcome as they open their doors to bring a hot meal to anyone in need.

Still off and running with a few more trips planned to visit our always accommodating and gracious hosts in the beautiful Caribbean Islands. More updates coming soon!!

To all of you and yours, enjoy this beautiful, blessed and wonderful time of year!!

Food Deregulation Bill

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Aug 262011

Recently here in Florida a food deregulation bill was passed. It is now okay for folks to make certain foods such as cakes, pies, honey etc in their homes without having a commercial kitchen and to sell them from their homes or roadside stands.

As business folks ourselves, we sure do like to see opportunities made available for people to get involved in free enterprise but we do have concern about the standards, if any, these “home kitchens” are going to have set.

What’s your opinion of the bill? Are you all for it? For it as long as there are regular inspections to insure safe food handling and sanitation practices? Or somewhere in the middle?

We’d love to hear your thoughts!

Helping out at the Christian Care Center

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Aug 252011

Today we had a great turn out of students from Leesburg High and Eustis High Culinary Programs to put out a great meal for anyone that was hungry at the Christian Care Center.

Chef Jeff, Chef Matt, Chef John, Chef Nicole and Laurie Dennis were all on hand to “supervise” the 15 students that gave up their Saturday afternoon to put out a fantastic meal of baked chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, cucumber and tomato salad, garlic bread and fruit salad.

From setting up the dining room, preparing all the food, serving the food and cleaning up, the students did a great service to the community and we’re always very proud of them for giving up their time to this worthy cause.

Hermitage Bay, Antigua – Part 1

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Aug 022011

Hello from beautiful Resort Destination Hermitage Bay in Tropical Antigua!! We are on day 2 of our training visit and have been having a great time getting to know the team here at this beautiful island getaway in the heart of the Caribbean.

Our hosts have been gracious and accommodating and again, we are faced with the dilemma of is this really WORK? The suites are sublime, the dining is exquisite and the staff is top notch.

Trainings and presentations are being met with interest and participation from each department we are working with. As always, our visit is going to pass by a lot faster than we would like.

In the two days we have been “working” we have done a presentation on the Introduction of HACCP to the Supervisors, proper food handling to the front of the house, Mock inspection walk throughs and a presentation on controlling food costs.

Hermitage Bay, Antigua – Part 2

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Aug 012011

Back from our travels to beautiful Antigua in the beautiful Caribbean waters! Our hosts at Hermitage Bay were nothing short of fabulous and the resort itself puts Antigua on the map. It was a great week with their hospitality staff and special thanks go out to chef Dezi for trusting his team to us. We made a lot of new friends and look forward to going back to visit again someday.

View from our Heritage Abode

Our next stop was at their sister resort, Coco’s, where we got to know their team and had a few fantastic days working with all of them. As always, it’s the people that we get to meet that make this adventure so fulfilling.

Aren’t the colors and arrangement on this plate amazing? The caliber of professionals at the places we visit is certainly something they can be proud of!

And this is the amazing view you’re treated to while you enjoy plates like the one above.

Again, thank you to our hosts at both Hermitage Bay and Coco’s! Glad to have had the opportunity!

Busy Week At Little Dix Bay

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Jun 282011

Our time spent at Little Dix Bay in the British Virgin Islands wasn’t just an Island get away, although the surroundings and fantastic staff sure did make it feel like it was.

When we weren’t reveling in the the amazing scenery and surroundings, we were busy conducting some personalized training throughout their Hospitality department.

Hands on station training was conducted for the teams in Hot Foods, Cold Foods and in their Pastry Shop. The training covered new concepts within the field and Mise en place training to help them be as efficient as possible with their daily tasks.

The staff also took part in an introduction to HACCP-Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points- during their training in Kitchen Safety and Sanitation. We did mock health inspections for each area of the Kitchen facility and also for the Bar Areas, Kitchen Stewards and Waitstaff.

The mock inspections gave the team a greater awareness of what to expect when official inspections occur and what they can do to ensure all areas are properly protected from any safety, sanitation or food borne hazards.

Everyone we worked with from the moment we arrived until the moment we left was courteous and helpful and eager to learn. So maybe it WAS an Island getaway….

Thanks Again,

-The Chefs Helping Chefs Team