By Robin Secord
iSanté Contributing Reporter

Inspiration was in the air! The BCA's 17th Annual Cultural Awareness Salute was held on April 10th at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. Attendees, representing all aspects of the culinary and hospitality industry, gathered to honor three illustrious professionals. Chairman Sithappah, CEO of The Seasoned Pot Co., was recipient of the Jefferson Evans Award; Melba Wilson, CEO of Melba's Restaurant & Catering, received the Heritage Award; and John M. Palmer, PH.D., of Harlem Hospital Center & The Renaissance Healthcare Network, was the recipient of the Chairman's Award. The acceptance speeches delivered by each of the honorees were not only gracious and heartfelt, but also went on to motivate, inspire, and act as a call-to-action to their rapt, supportive audience. The roster of award presenters was as illustrious as the award recipients and included Fikile S. Magubane, The Consul General of South Africa to New York; Drew Nieporent, Owner, Myriad Restaurant Group; Michael Thompson, CMP, Vice President of Conferences of the National Urban League; and Michael Smith, General Manager of the Cooking Channel.

By Christina DiMartino

"I wish I had a steer with ten tails," says Michael Lenagar, president and CEO of the family-owned and family-operated Neola Farms in Brighton, Tennessee. That's because what are known as the lesser cuts—meat taken from the extremities and underbelly of the animal—are selling fast. "All chefs want are lesser cuts, including oxtail, short ribs, skirt steaks, flank, and liver." Forty years ago, this trend would not have been particularly newsworthy. Back then people used every part of an animal. An economic boom in the 1980s and 1990s increased the demand for luxury ingredients. High-end cuts were cherished while lesser cuts were ground, stewed, and marinated until they were nearly unrecognizable. Many chefs avoided the lesser cuts altogether because of their association with low-end restaurants.

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By Libby Platus

When Chef Thomas Keller enters the room, there is an air of excitement. This is the chef with more Michelin stars than any other American-born chef. He is the founder of The French Laundry in the little town of Yountville, California; per se, the jewel of New York City; and five other exceptional restaurants. Behind the ruckus of celebrity, Chef Keller is a thoughtful leader who, in his own quiet way, breaks many of the rules chefs are mandated to follow. He doesn't focus on how his decisions will affect sustainability or marketing or getting the best deal. He thinks of one thing: quality. But that single-mindedness, his determination, and a touch of reliance on fate have also worked to produce results in those very areas, while at the same time bringing him a world of success.

SANTÉ: What influences wine selection for the restaurants?
   TK: I've learned I don't know everything. At my first restaurant, I thought I did. I tried to control everything. When I opened The French Laundry, I said, "I'm a cook. I'm going to focus on the kitchen." I found people to do the accounting, run the restaurant, and handle the beverage program.

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By Laura Taxel

A recent report titled A Look into the Future of Eating from the consumer research company NPD Group foresees a growing preference for healthier foods and beverages in the next ten years. Steve Schimoler is way ahead of the curve.

The chef has owned and operated six successful restaurants, developed products for major food manufacturers, and cofounded the Research Chefs Association (RCA), an organization that coined the term culinology to describe the intersection of culinary art and the science of food. For more than 20 years, he has been on a mission to improve nutritional quality while optimizing flavor. At Crop Bistro-Schimoler's upscale-casual Cleveland restaurant that opened in June 2007-the creative American cuisine coming out of his kitchen (and the rave reviews it's garnered from critics and patrons) is a testament to his achievements. "What I do," he explains, "is deconstruct the experience of enjoyment in order to make dishes high in 'craveability' without relying on fat, sugar, and salt."

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By Emily Gold
Santé Associate Editor

At Fair Hill Inn in Elkton, Maryland, farm-to-table is a very short trip. Bypass the front door, and the tidy compact garden unfolds. Strawberries, including heirloom varieties, bear fruit throughout the season. The skeleton of a greenhouse supports creeping tomatoes that frame the myriad beets, carrots, herbs, and greens that spread out below. Hops grow for a local brewer whose beer is featured at a special dinner late in the season. If you keep walking, you'll see the rows of grapevines for making verjus, and a little farther, the beehives. Housemade is a given here; housegrown is a high probability. Most everything else comes from local farms in this agriculturally rich corner of Maryland. Among the most impressive of the restaurant's housemade products are the cheeses, which are presented with artful preserves made from garden-fresh produce.

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Chefs have been privy to the magic of salt for many years. Just a dash during plating makes delicate flavors sing. Salts hail from around the world and, as natural products, reflect the terroir of their place of origin. More and more companies are providing salts with a palette of colors, textures, and levels of salinity to play with. French fleur de sel may be seen as the pinnacle of natural gourmet sea salt, but beautiful products come from places much more unexpected and closer to home, such as Maine. There is the aesthetic pleasure of seeing pale, shimmering crystals strewn over a firm fillet of salmon or the contrast of a red Hawaiian salt cresting the top of a ramekin of butter. An affordable yet unforgettable luxury, gourmet sea salts are an easy way to add fireworks to your food.

nytimes.com – The heavily tattooed woman walking the Shih Tzu ordered Secret Breakfast, the most popular ice cream flavor at Humphry Slocombe. The proprietor, Jake Godby—a man so shy and socially awkward that it never occurred to him when he opened an ice cream parlor that such an establishment might attract children—makes the ice cream with bourbon and toasted cornflakes, including so much Jim Beam that the scoops always run soft. The day was a sunny Friday, ice cream weather. Just before noon customers started lining up near the corner of Harrison and 24th Streets, an unrehabilitated crossroads in San Francisco's Mission district: first, a gold-chained Latino laborer who ordered Chocolate Smoked Sea Salt; then three 20-something guys—each part hipster, part geek— who stared anxiously at the flavor board, as if they had come in on a dare. Godby's intention when he opened Humphry Slocombe in December 2008 was to create a challenging ice cream store. He has succeeded. The physical plant is straight–up soda–fountain retro: black–and–white tile floor, chrome–and–red–leather stools, simple Formica bar. Original Source>>

news-record.com – Between net surfing and social media, you say don't have enough to fill those long workdays in the cube farm? Why not become a hoagie maester or master mixologist. GreatDayGames.com has launched Hoagie Hero and Mixology, a couple of games developed by Arkadium. Hoagie Hero challenges the player to build sandwiches, collect tips and travel across the country winning sandwich competitions. Run the hottest juice bar on the beach in Mixology, a game that challenges players to give thirsty customers plenty of attention and primo exotic drinks. Could a grill master challenge be the next order up? Original Source>>

louisianaseafoodnews.com – Fourth generation Louisiana oysterman John Tesvich is ceasing operations at his Franklin, La., oyster processing company, AmeriPure Oysters, due to sharply declining supplies of fresh oysters caused by the massive BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. AmeriPure is one of America's largest suppliers of half-shell Gulf oysters to grocery store chains and restaurants across America. But operations are stopping, and the company is laying off its 60 workers. Tesvich and his business partner Pat Fahey hope the closure is only temporary, that oyster supplies may resume in parts of the Gulf by the fourth quarter of this year. In all reality, they really don't have any idea what's going to happen as oil spreads across the Gulf. "Nothing is more insidious than this oil spill," Tesvich says. "This thing keeps spewing oil, and nothing can be done about it." Original Source>>

money.cnn.com– Today Le Cordon Bleu Schools in North America announced a major development for the institution by hiring Master Chef Edward Leonard, CMC, WGMC, AAC, as vice president and corporate chef for Le Cordon Bleu Schools in North America. Chef Leonard is responsible for faculty training and development with a focus on technique, while providing hands-on leadership for all 17 Le Cordon Bleu campuses throughout North America. Chef Leonard is an internationally-recognized Master Chef—only one of 72 in the U.S. His hiring is part of the continued commitment of Le Cordon Bleu to further its mission to be a modern classic in culinary education and provide its students with the foundation for a fulfilling career opportunity. "In bringing on a chef of the caliber of Master Chef Edward Leonard, we are continuing to deepen our commitment to provide an extraordinary culinary education to our students," said Brian Williams, senior vice president responsible for the Le Cordon Bleu Schools in North America. "The addition of a master chef with the passion and excellence of Chef Leonard will further enhance all that Le Cordon Bleu has to offer in culinary education." Chef Leonard comes to Le Cordon Bleu from the premier Westchester Country Club in Rye, New York, the twelfth ranked platinum club in the U.S., where he was the assistant general manager and director of culinary operations. He is the immediate past president of the American Culinary Federation (ACF) and spent the last 25 years working in the culinary arts. Original Source>>