In today’s episode, we're speaking with Escoffier Baking & Pastry Chef Instructor Colette Christian, Certified Master Baker (CMB), a published author, and host of Baking with Colette. She mentored under the great White House Pastry Chef Albert Kumin, worked in upscale restaurants and luxury hotels, and owned a bed & breakfast and a successful wedding cake business.

Colette is a Certified Executive Chef® (CEC®), Certified Executive Pastry Chef® (CEPC®), and Evaluator for Certifications by the American Culinary Federation. She taught at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts and has been teaching baking and pastry classes as the Dough Doctor for over a decade.

Listen as we chat with Chef Colette about obtaining her Master Baker certification, the importance of great mentors, and the balance of art & science in baking.

Parker Wilks-Bryant is an Escoffier graduate who overcame addiction to not only graduate with honors, but also complete an externship at Pujol, considered by many to be the best restaurant in Mexico City, and is currently ranked the 9th best restaurant in the world by The World’s 50 Best Restaurants.

Today, Parker works for Caruso's, a Michelin Guide restaurant, where he continues to sharpen his skills. He dreams of one day marrying his love of cooking with a second-chance restaurant that helps recovering addicts find hope, healing, and a way forward.

Join us today as we chat with Parker about his journey out of a dark place and into the kitchen. 

Chef Chris McAdams is an Escoffier graduate who has paved his own lane in the culinary industry as an R&D consultant.

Chris specializes in consumer packaged goods (CPG) product development, plant-based protein innovation, recipe and product development, as well as trend-driven ideation.

As a self-proclaimed "culinary gun-for-hire," he has done everything from kitchen and menu design to cross utilization training, helping small mom and pop cafés get off the ground, and much more.

Listen today as we chat with Chef Chris about his transition from a marketing professional to chef and culinary consultant, the impact his culinary education has had on his career, and what it takes to sustain an R&D consulting business.

Kathleen Vossenberg is the Vice President of Academic Affairs at Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts. 

Kathleen joined Escoffier a little over a year ago as the Director of Program Development and was recently promoted to her current leadership position - a role in which she is already delivering tremendous value to our students and the greater culinary community. 

Kathleen has worked with institutions like Illinois Institute of Art and Le Cordon Bleu in Orlando. 

Listen today as we chat with Kathleen about her leadership role in culinary academia, what’s next for Escoffier students, and the impact of global events on the culinary world.

In today’s episode we’re speaking with Dr. Amy Sapola, a Certified Wellness Coach, Institute for Functional Medicine Certified Practitioner, and Doctor of Pharmacy with a B.S. in Nutrition.

Dr. Sapola is the Director of Farmacy (that’s farm - F-A-R-M-ACY) at The Chef’s Garden in Huron, Ohio where she works to help guide consumers towards a mindful relationship with food by connecting the benefits of healthy soil, to healthy plants, and ultimately, to healthy people. She’s a mother of two young children, master gardener, passionate cook and long-time yogi.

Listen today as we chat with Dr. Sapola about the role that functional and integrative medicine play in wellness and ultimately our wellbeing. 

In today’s episode we’re speaking with Chef Kyle Connaughton, co-owner of SingleThread, a Japanese cuisine inspired restaurant, inn and 24-acre farm with three Michelin stars. In 2021, SingleThread was listed in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants.

Kyle began his culinary career in Los Angeles with an apprenticeship at one of the oldest Japanese restaurants in the city. He then continued training in both pastry and savory at Spago Beverly Hills, The Dining Room at The Ritz-Carlton, Lucques, Hama Sushi, and A.O.C. Kyle spent several years cooking in Japan for the famed chef Michel Bras and in numerous traditional Japanese cuisine restaurants.  In 2006, Kyle joined Heston Blumenthal to become the Head Chef of Research and Development for the Fat Duck Experimental Kitchen. He is a contributor to the "Modernist Cuisine" series, a co-developer of the Culinary Science Bachelor's Degree program for the CIA, and co-author of the book Donabe: Classic and Modern Japanese Clay Pot Cooking.

Listen as we chat with Chef Kyle about his journey from a skateboarder to a Michelin star chef. 

In today's episode, we chat with Philip Tessier, an award-winning chef, author, coach, culinary partner and innovator.  He was the first American chef to ever place on the podium at the biennial Bocuse d’Or competition in Lyon, France, and coached the 2017 U.S. team to a gold-medal victory, a journey that he recounts in his book: Chasing Bocuse.

Philip began his training in the kitchen at a young age while growing up in Williamsburg, Virginia. He was interested and motivated to learn new techniques and taste new things, so his curiosity often led him to the library searching for cookbooks with exotic recipes. He attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY and after graduation, to sought out the best kitchens of France, New York and California to hone his craft. Over the course of three decades, Tessier worked at some of the world’s most renowned restaurants including Roger Verge’s Le Moulin de Mougins, Eric Ripert’s Le Bernadin, as well as Thomas Keller’s Per Se, Bouchon and The French Laundry. It was at The French Laundry that Tessier began to train for the pinnacle of culinary achievement, the Olympics of the food world: the Bocuse d’Or.

Listen as we chat with Philip about the road to Bocuse d'Or, building a strong culinary team, and the three principles that guide his work. 

Bobby Stuckey is the Master Sommelier and Co-Owner of Frasca Hospitality Group, a collection of four Colorado restaurants, one of which, Frasca Food and Wine, won the 2019 James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding Service. 

Bobby began his distinguished career in restaurants in his home state of Arizona, working his way from dishwasher to management, establishing his position as one of the leaders in the hospitality industry. Bobby has received some of the restaurant and wine industry's highest honors, such as James Beard Foundation nominations for Outstanding Wine and Spirits Professional and Outstanding Wine Service. In 2000, Bobby worked with world-renowned chef Thomas Keller at The French Laundry in Yountville, California. Within his first year, Stuckey lead the acclaimed restaurant’s team to earn the James Beard Foundation's Outstanding Wine Service award and San Francisco Magazine recognized him as "Wine Director of the Year.” The French Laundry also received the James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding Restaurant Service in 2003. 

Listen today as we chat with Bobby about his journey from a busboy to restaurateur, and how he's advocating for an industry in crisis. 

Katrina Markoff is the founder, CEO, and Chocolatier of Vosges Chocolat - a Chicago-based luxury chocolate brand. 

Katrina is a world-traveler who uses her global experiences to bring culture, intuition, and joy to her customers through chocolate. With three boutiques, an ecommerce platform, and international patrons, Katrina is one of the most successful chocolatiers in the industry.  

In the last twenty years Katrina has used vibrant cacao as the medium for her collections. By combining it with indigenous, energetic plants, she is able to communicate a sense of place, terroir or earth as the grounding home that connects the soul of the story to the people who it originates with. She made it part of her mission to use only superior sourced ingredients as an acknowledgement to nature’s secret and potent bounty that she has the honor and responsibility to reveal. Through chocolate she has explored: all seven continents, the Marchesa Casati, African American influences on music, ancient Egypt, aphrodisiacs, the first creative cuisine of Italy, the curiosity of Fermentation, how we taste through our sense of smell and more.
 
Listen today as we chat with Katrina about how she built her luxury chocolate brand, finding your state of flow, and how she uses chocolate to open minds and heart to bring people together and make the world a better place.

Rip Esselstyn is the founder and CEO of PLANTSTRONG, an organization that is helping people lead healthier lives through plant-based nutrition. Rip is a New York Times Bestselling author, world record holder, professional triathlete, former firefighter, and sought after public speaker.

Rip spent a decade as one of the premier triathletes in the world. He then joined the Austin Fire Department where he introduced his passion for a whole-food, plant-based diet to Austin’s Engine 2 Firehouse in order to rescue a firefighting brother’s health. To document his success he wrote the national bestselling book, The Engine 2 Diet, which shows the irrefutable connection between a plant-based diet and good health. He is featured prominently in the documentary Forks Over Knives.

Listen as we chat with Rip about his journey to PLANTSTRONG and the truth behind plant-based food labels.