Welcome to Our Forty Seventh Issue!
Named after the Roman god of war, Mars. This was the time of year to resume military campaigns that had been interrupted by winter.
January Feature Chef
Chef Shota Nakajima
With a mother coming from a professional baking lineage, and a father whose family owns three-Michelin-starred Hyotei, there is no wondering why Shota Nakajima was a culinary wunderkind. Born in Japan and raised in Seattle, 16-year old Nakajima dropped out of school to become a chef. He started small, washing dishes and peeling onions at any Japanese restaurant he could find. At eighteen, he moved to Osaka to train in Japanese cuisine. While there, he apprenticed with Michelin-starred Chef Yasuhiko Sakamoto at Kappo Sakamoto for four years, learning the form and style of Japanese fine-dining. Nakajima’s first meal back in Seattle was at Sushi Kappo Tamura, and one day later, he was working there. Another year later, Nakajima moved to the operations side of the hospitality industry and went corporate, managing concepts for a group in various locations across the city. Nakajima opened fine Japanese restaurant, Naka, in 2015. After a year and a half of service, In 2017, he open a more casual Japanese concept, Adana. He has received an Eater “Young Guns” Award, and beat Bobby Flay on Food Network’s “Beat Bobby Flay.” In 2018 and 2019, Nakajima was a semifinalist for James Beard’s “Rising Star Chef of the Year.
Chef Shota in Action, click the image below
Ways to Get Vitamin "D"
7 ways to reduce stress and keep blood pressure down
Food link to better brain power
Just as there is no magic pill to prevent cognitive decline, no single almighty brain food can ensure a sharp brain as you age. Nutritionists emphasize that the most important strategy is to follow a healthy dietary pattern that includes a lot of fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains. Try to get protein from plant sources and fish and choose healthy fats, such as olive oil or canola, rather than saturated fats.
Notes from a Purchasing Pro by Robert Dennerlein.
I am excited to post my first tip, on Purchasing for Profit. It is my desire that this information will assist the industry with practical wisdom and best practices.
Quality/Cost Control/Yields: For any operation to succeed it is important to provide customers with a consistent quality at a cost that allows profitability. Your distributor can assist with both quality and cost control. Request your distributor to do food cuttings and provide yield analysis, so you can determine the actual cost of product (EP vs AP). What matters is your EP, which can be 15% higher from one label to another. For example, a #10 can of diced tomatoes may contain 15% more tomatoes than a lesser AP/quality label. If the tomatoes of the higher label were 10% more expensive you have a 5% savings by utilizing the higher-grade product due to the yield or edible tomatoes.
Robert Dennerlein, Robert is a Past President of the Las Vegas Branch many years ago, and has recently rejoined IFSEA. Welcome back Robert and thank you for allowing us to publish this edited article.
Your compassion is amazing and is a model to us all. Thank you so much for all your hard work to take care of our community during this pandemic!. We are very grateful and are forever in debt to you all. You are what is keeping the world going when it feels like the world has completely stopped during this pandemic. We’ll hopefully be able to get through this soon enough, and we will remember your selfless acts working as a frontline worker. We wish you safety and health as you forge ahead to get us to the other side of this pandemic. We thank you daily in our prayers, hearts, and minds each and every day. Stay strong, God bless and THANK YOU!
Local Culinary News
VEGAS FOOD PROJECT will presented Its 5th TURKISH Taste Special Culinary Event Series/ Cereals, Pulses & Oil Seeds
On March 24-2021 , the Las Vegas Food Project, will presented its 5th Mediterranean Food Series. The event took place at
UNLV Hospitality Hall 4th floor state of the art Kitchen. The attendees learn about products, health benefits, and production details from the industry leaders.
The sample best quality products from Turkey prepared by top Chef Michelle Vietmeier.
While the awareness of healthy diets, ingredient specifications, ethical production, and fair trade has been increasing among US consumers, businesses are looking for solid suppliers with high standards and flexibility at the same time. It would be safe to say, pandemics can only increase this awareness and the right supplier search. Vegas Food Project, are bringing THE BEST and THE LARGEST Turkish food producers to you who can satisfy these needs of consumers and businesses.
Guest Chef Michelle Vietmeier; will be creating a delicious dish, utilizing a selection of premium products from Turkish,
This month will be last opportunity to acquire a free certification offer from Hospitality World of IFSEA/ Click the image below to enlarge it.
We are reaching out to the culinary community to offer free memberships in IFSEA and one free certification for anyone who lost their job or had their hours drastically reduced due to Covid19. As you are aware, we were hit very hard, thousands of hospitality employees have lost their job.
Many will not get back to their normal job. Having said that, by taking advantage of this great offer and this unique opportunity, it will help them to learn new skills, so they can apply for new jobs.
Please contact Mr. Ed Manley, should you have any additional questions.
Ed Manley, MCFE, CHM
IFSEA Chairman of the Board-elect
Email – ed@ifsea.org
Cell – 561-929-4765
web – www.ifsea.org
Cumulative 15 minute COVID-19 Exposure: What does it mean?
The CDC now defines close contact as somebody who has been within 6 feet of an infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24 hour period. If a person is a close contact, he or she must self-quarantine for 14 days from their last exposure to the positive person. All contacts should be tested for COVID-19, and a negative test results does not eliminate the 14 day quarantine period.
provided by Aminta MArtinez – Food Safety and Nutrition Consultant
Food for Thought
Why Cruciferous are good for you
Kudos to the Brassica Family
The importance of the Brassica family of foods to our diet cannot be overstated. To begin with, cruciferous vegetables contain lots of: Soluble and insoluble fiber, Vitamin C, Vitamin B9 (folate), Potassium, Selenium, Phytochemicals.
They are also rich sources of compounds known as glucosinolates, which may help to fight cancer. (These sulfur-containing compounds were likely the cause of the patient’s headaches. A number of research studies suggest that a diet rich in cruciferous vegetables may lower rates of a variety of cancers, including pancreatic, bladder, lung, prostate and colon cancer.
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Helping Hand
Your Business and your community can benefit from volunteers…taking your team out of the office to volunteer in the community.
Ten Things New Manager Needs to Know
You’ve finally done it. After years of hard work, you’ve been promoted to a position managing a team of people and can call the shots. Your first job as a manager can be exciting, and also a bit overwhelming. And it’s important to do it well. Managers are the cultural linchpin in the organization – they set the tone for the work experience. The rest of the organization could be fantastic, but if your boss isn’t up to snuff that will cloud all of the good things happening. There’s a reason people say “you don’t quit your job…you quit your boss.”
To get off on the right foot, here are ten tips to help you get the most out of your team and create a work experience they will thrive in. -Forbes-
A Must Read ! Click here for More Information
Hospitality doesn’t start at the restaurant, hotel or airline. It start at home. In everyday life. Because is all about being hospitable.
A helpful sheet for accuracy in recipe costing/ click below
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WHAT’S COOKING TODAY?
Recipe provided by Chef Raymond Bar CEC-CCE-ACE
Jamaican Jerk beef steak
Method
Think Positively (Leadership)
Leaders can build accountability by spelling out what’s expected from employees in terms of results and behaviors, monitoring progress daily and applying positive and negative consequences based on outcomes, says S. Chris Edmonds. “Without consequences, clear agreements and monitoring do not ensure either results or respect,” he says.
Click the image below to watch Leadership Guru, Chris Edmonds
2020 Culinary Forecast
Do you have the skills to make a great coach?
- Hire the right fit for your open position
- Allowing this new employee(s) to adjust to your company culture
- Seeing their potential
- Begin grooming them to take positions that are higher than yours in the industry
- Be open to their ideas
Quotes that will help you stay ahead of the game.
Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Louis Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson and Albert Einstein.
Telling people what we think of their performance doesn’t help them thrive and excel, and telling people how we think they should improve, actually hinders learning. “
Lead On!
Perspective Theories of Leadership
Participative Theories of Leadership are considered by some to be an ideal style of leadership because they consider input from others. Leaders utilizing this type of theory tend to encourage both contributions and active participation from other group members. In turn, this allows the other group members to feel more relevant and committed to the direction the leader has chosen to go. The only real caveat here is that the leader maintains the right of what input to allow from the other group members.
For more information regarding the Participative Theories please visit: Behavioral Leadership
It has been my observation, over the years, that many leaders rank low on empathy. They understand it intellectually, they just don’t pay enough attention, ask the right questions or comprehend that it is not just about what your colleagues think, but about how they feel. To be an effective leader you need to do more than just manage the bottom line and watch the numbers like a hawk. Obviously that may be necessary, but so is offering suggestions, being supportive, being a source of creative ideas, helping your people think through their roles and helping them make the best use of their time. In fact, that is precisely what the best leaders do.
As you think about how you exhibit genuine empathy here are five questions for you to contemplate. For more information visit: patrickmckenna.com
ACF Culinary Corner
Form the American Culinary Federation, your chance to create spectacular dishes and contribute with inspirational new ideas.
Click below for more information:
The 2016 Menus of Change Annual Report was released at the fourth annual Menus of Change leadership summit on June 14. It includes an analysis of issues at the convergence of public health, the environment, and the business of food, plus and updated Dashboard of how the food and foodservice industries have progressed—or not—since last year’s report was issued.
The World Culinary Arts Video Series
Read more and enjoy the videos at: Amazing video library from The Culinary Institute of America
Click on the image below to enlarge
La Finestra: Trends Spotting
Just like fashion, food trends come and go in the blink of an eye. Every year, we see a rise in these fads that inevitably affect the way we eat and plan our meals. From superfoods to juice cleanses, the modern dining pattern has undeniably been influenced by the presence of a health-conscious effort, which we see continuing into 2020.
Learn more 2020 Food trends according Chefs
If you’re feeling forgetful, it could be due to a lack of sleep or a number of other reasons, including genetics, level of physical activity and lifestyle and environmental factors. However, there’s no doubt that diet plays a major role in brain health.
The best menu for boosting memory and brain function encourages good blood flow to the brain — much like what you’d eat to nourish and protect your heart. Research found the Mediterranean Diet helps keep aging brains sharp, and a growing body of evidence links foods such as those in the Mediterranean diet with better cognitive function, memory and alertness
Learn more by visiting: Types of Foods to Help Boost Your Memory
Meeting the Demand for Safe, Natural Products
Lately, while shopping at my local grocery store, I have noticed the increasing number of food products marketed as organic or preservative-free. More and more, consumers are demanding green labels and ingredient lists they can understand. Yet food safety — preventing food spoilage and contamination from microbial pathogens — must remain a top priority for food producers. The food safety industry faces many challenges if it is to transition away from the use of refined chemicals toward more label-friendly preservatives.
By Suzanne Osborne, PhD
Wednesday, 30 April 2014
Kale is one of the cruciferous vegetables, cancer fighters full of fiber and antioxidants. great addition to salads or you can bake it with a spritz of extra virgin-olive oil and sea salt for a crispy potato chip alternative.
Hail to the Kale!!
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2021 food Trends Forecast
Late last year, we talked to dozens of chefs who predicted trends that ranged from family-style dining to tasting menus with non-alcoholic juice pairings. Of course, no one could have predicted the way 2020 played out.
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Nutrition, Eat Better
Salt, Consuming the right amount, Most Americans consume more sodium than is good for their health, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Learn more!
8 Tips For Avoiding Gluten Cross Contamination – PrimoHealthCoach
▪ Oils that have been used to deep fry battered foods will contaminate foods like French fries. Use separate oils, and ask the chef when dining out if the same oil is used for battered foods.
▪ Cutlery, utensils and potsand pans must be thoroughly cleaned before cooking gluten-free to avoid cross-contamination.
▪ Toasters and ovens that have been used for glutenous breads can contaminate gluten-free breads. At home try to keep two separate toasters.
▪ Grills and barbecues can easily cross-contaminate foods if not properly cleaned. Many sauces used to barbecue have gluten.
▪ Sifters used for both glutenous and gluten-free flours will cross-contaminate. At home if you use both types of flour, keep separate properly labeled sifters.
▪ Your mayonnaise, peanut butter jar, jams and jellies are easily contaminated when making sandwiches.
▪ Glutenous flours have a tendency to stay airborne for some time after use. Cooking in a kitchen shortly after preparing foods with glutenous flours is risky for the sensitive person. Because of this I find it very hard to believe that you can get a truly gluten-free pizza from a pizza restaurant that makes regular pizza as well.
▪ Any foods not prepared in a gluten-free facility, including your own home, runs the risk of getting cross-contaminated.
Goodness!!
Avocado oil; this silky fruit oil helps fight joint condition and promoted soft skin.
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