Since 1971, Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, Inc., has created high-quality, successful restaurants. The company operates more than 80 establishments throughout the country. Wildfire (voted most-popular Chicago restaurant 2008 through 2010 by Zagat) has seven locations. The McLean, Va., venue is also bustling and can serve 1,000 customers per day. Having spent most of his career with the Lettuce Entertain You family, this kind of intense “kitchen heat” doesn’t intimidate Executive Chef Eddie Ishaq. He says, “Let’s go!”

By Lynn Schwartz

Wildfire is handsome and pays tribute to the open flame. The long, elevated fireplace above the open kitchen is dramatic. Wood-fired ovens and spit roasters add not only ambiance, but also flavor to meats, seafood, poultry and hand-stretched pizza. The dark wood and large black-and-white photographs depicting dapper diners recall the spirit of a 1940s supper club. And the contemporary Tysons Galleria mall location requires the restaurant to appeal to a variety of palates—employees in surrounding office buildings, mall shoppers and those residing in the neighborhood. A reasonably priced menu is designed for repeat dining.

Providing lists of questions to ask or items to look for, and even suggesting index cards in lieu of large notebooks, can help your students take more-effective notes.

By Dr. Fred Mayo, CHE, CHT

Last month, we discussed the four types of field trips; this month, we will share some tips on helping students take notes on field trips and site visits.

Purpose of Note Taking
Among the many values of site visits and field trips is the opportunity to observe the operation of a kitchen, foodservice outlet, warehouse, dining room, restaurant, hotel or other hospitality operation. Determining what to observe, however, can be a real challenge for students. Therefore, we need to help them prepare for site visits and point out what they might need to notice and record in their notes.

Not only will your students enjoy this assignment, but this will probably be one of the few times in your class that they can create unique dishes.

By Adam Weiner, CFSE

In honor of February, why not have a 50-minute class on chocolate dipping? Before you read further, here is a disclaimer: I am neither a chocolatier nor a pastry chef. If you are either, please stop reading. For the rest of us mere mortals, let me show a quick, easy and fun way to teach some basic chocolate-dipping skills:

1. Preparation: Mise en place is critical here. Like cooking, chocolate work requires that everything be ready to go before you start. Remind students that mise en place applies to equipment as well as ingredients. (My students somehow always seem to forget this.)

Sharing your best ideas for innovation in teaching sustainability can be rewarding.

By Christopher Koetke, CEC, CCE, HAAC

The Kendall College School of Culinary Arts and CAFÉ are proud to announce that entries are being accepted for the 2012 CAFÉ/Kendall College Green Award. The first national award dedicated to building the body of teaching knowledge for all sustainability educators, it recognizes innovative teaching and projects that could have applications for other culinary programs across the country.

All secondary and postsecondary culinary-arts and baking/pastry programs are eligible to enter. Entries will be judged based on the level of innovation; perceived impact on students’ understanding of sustainability practices and their importance; and the ease with which elements of the winning program can be implemented by other culinary programs nationwide.

A free web-based tool for nutrition educators shows how to “upgrade” favorite meals by changing the type of meat and poultry, side dishes and condiments to decrease fat and calories in breakfast, lunch and dinner menus.

Courtesy of the National Turkey Federation

As a nation, we are experiencing an epidemic of obesity. Today, an estimated 32.7% of U.S. adults 20 years and older are overweight, 34.3% are obese and 5.9% are morbidly obese, resulting in approximately $147 billion in direct and indirect healthcare costs annually. And because there is a strong correlation between obesity and such co-morbid conditions as Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and certain types of cancers, these costs are expected to double every 10 years. More problematic is the escalating rate of childhood obesity and the potential consequences for increased prevalence of chronic disease in future years.