Greeting's Everyone
Well our first month has been a good one. Very busy tying up the loose ends from the last administration and creating our own in the midst of it all. As most of you know, we have decided to raffle a Harley Davidson Super Glide.
Chef Vasile is the chair of this event and he and Rose have come up with an interesting incentive for us to sell tickets; based on the number of tickets you sell, you can get a percentage of your membership dues paid. For specific details come to the February chapter meeting and find out all about it.
Also in January, we reached out to the Rochester Chapter of the NYSRA and provided them with an action station at their scholarship dinner, which was held at the Hyatt on February third. On our action station we prepared a little chicken tossed in a wok with chili peppers and peanuts, finished it with fresh cilantro and basil, a lime vinaigrette and then wrapped the mixture in baby bok choy leaves. Thai inspired goodness! I would like to thank Greg Christo, Deb O'Connell, Brad Butler and Dave DiNapoli for helping out on this function. I would also like to mention that Chef Terry Brennan of T.Brennans also provided an action station for the dinner. He prepared an herb crusted Maryland Rockfish which was sweet and delicious. Chef Terry is one of our newer members and is also a member of the Rochester chapter of the NYSRA.
Beginning this month I will be sharing with you some emails I received from a former cook of mine who was recently on a culinary tour of S.E. Asia. Jon Beeaker is a Rochester native who now resides in Portland Ore. with his wife Kerry. He is Executive chef at Saucebox, a Pan Asian restaurant. Jon was a line cook for me at Cobblestone Creek, who eventually moved up to Sous chef, and then on to culinary school. Upon graduating found himself in Oregon and is now living his dream.I am proud of Jon and enjoyed reading the emails he sent to me while on his culinary and cultural tour of a place many of us may never have a chance to visit. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did. There are six in the series and we will feature one per month. These letters are being printed with his blessing.
In closing for this month I would like to encourage everyone to bring in a new member. Since we lowered the dues structure we have made it more affordable to join the chapter, on the flip side we have reduced the operating revenues. The best way to bolster this is to bring in new members.So tell a friend or co-worker about us and bring them along to a meeting. It will be great to see new faces in the crowd and hear all of the new ideas that will come with them.
Chef Sam