Blog: Chefs

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If college students are going to cook, they need it to be simple, affordable, and efficient. And Bon Appétit’s Executive Sous Chef at Reed College, Jenny Nguyen, came up with a great idea for a cooking class that would achieve just that — with a healthful and easy twist on making top ramen, the quintessential college student’s meal.

On a visit to Colorado College, I was sitting in the student center, working on some things while enjoying the atmosphere of being on a college campus, when Executive Sous Chef John E. Faulkner sat down next to me. John has been with Bon Appétit for more than 15 years. I wish I’d had a video camera running. Instead, these notes will have to try to convey the spirit of the man who claimed “I am Bon Appétit!”

I was surprised and disheartened to read comments by Thomas Keller in the New York Times that chefs’ only responsibility is to taste. “Is global food policy truly our responsibility, or in our control?” Keller asks. “I don’t think so.” I disagree, as do many others, and I am hoping that Keller’s statements were taken out of context. Chefs have an enormous power to make a difference, and they can do so without sacrificing flavor.

To galvanize the U.S. government to set labeling and inspection standards, Oceana has launched a Stop Seafood Fraud campaign with a letter for chefs and restaurant owners to sign, asking for stricter seafood regulations. The letter was unveiled Monday, May 14, in Washington, DC, in an event featuring “The Office” star Angela Kinsey, a seafood advocate, and renowned sustainable seafood chef Barton Seaver. Oceana reached out to Bon Appétit to ask for our support, and we’re proud that about 20% of the names on Oceana’s list of 300 chefs and restaurant owners are Bon Appétit Management Company ones, alongside such culinary leaders as Rick Bayless, Eric Ripert and Michael Symon.

Once a way to preserve meat without refrigeration, charcuterie – the branch of cooking devoted to preparing bacon, ham, sausage, terrines, galantines, pâtés, and confit – has become an art within the culinary world. It’s also a popular cooking technique among devotees of sustainable food, because it utilizes parts of the animal that would otherwise be discarded. Making charcuterie isn’t easy, but Bon Appétit chefs across the country are embracing the challenge!

Over time, Valentine’s Day changed from a day to celebrate martyrs named Valentine to a romantic day filled with hearts, flowers, cards, and of course, chocolate. But in the past few years, chocolate production has been under public scrutiny because of numerous reports about human trafficking and child labor associated with growing and harvesting cacao. Just as Valentine’s Day has evolved, it’s time to change our chocolate habits and support organizations with fair, humane, and sustainable practices.

At the crack of dawn one Saturday morning, a group of Gallaudet University students visited Even’ Star Organic Farm, a longtime Farm to Fork partner of Bon Appétit Management Company, to learn about where exactly their food comes from.

Simply taking the time to take care of yourself and eat mindfully is calming and beneficial to your health. For this month’s Well Being Challenge, we encourage you to try eating without distractions (no computers, phones, television, etc.) once a day for one week. Share your journey of mindful eating by posting comments about your experiences or photos of meals and snacks that you ate mindfully on our Facebook page wall. Here is a recipe with stress-reducing properties to get your started on your path to mindful eating.

With Thanksgiving fast approaching, so is that day when the feast is over and the guests have gone home – and you have a giant dish full of leftover turkey sitting in the refrigerator. Sure, you could make turkey sandwiches — the classic way to use up leftovers — but the Bon Appétit team at Cisco-San Jose in San Jose, CA, has some more creative ideas. Since guests often ask for recipes from the chefs, this holiday season the team proactively provided customers with ideas of how to get the most out of their Thanksgiving meal.