Andrew Zimmern speaks at Catersource

The Catersource Conference is the top catering educational conference in the industry where catering professionals from across the globe gather to network, learn and share catering insight, education, ideas, and motivation. This year there were participants from over 44 countries with a total of 8000 catering professionals including chefs, managers, beverage directors, culinary and sales staff. And we were happy to be a part of it.

This year the conference was held at Caesars Palace from February 26-29 and included presentations from celebrity chefs like Andrew Zimmern.

Andrew is a food writer, TV Personality, chef, teacher, and probably most commonly known for being the host of Bizarre Foods America. I got the chance to meet him after the presentation and can say I was a bit star struck.

David Tutera Disney's Wedding Event Designer and Florist

Other inspiring industry leaders and celebrity chefs that presented and attended the conference were award-winning chef and restaurateur Michael Mina, catering educator and consultant Mike Roman, award-winning event designer Preston Bailey, and Disney’s weddings event designer and florist David Tutera.

Kevin Mason from Honey Smoked Fish Co.

In addition to the educational conference, we also attended the Tradeshow where we got the chance to meet the owners and people from the companies that provide some of the food and services we use at Lettuce Cater. We got the chance to talk with the owner of Honey Smoked Fish Co., Kevin Mason, whose company was rated #1 in the country this year and also the owners of the hugely popular wedding planning site –The Knot!

We left the event excited and exhausted after the whirlwind of food, meet and greets, and presentations. I’d have to say the event was a great success and we walked away with some fantastic learning’s, insights, and ideas for our own catering events. Thank you to Catersource for another fabulous, educational, and motivating time.

This past month the MN Pork Board held their annual food competition: The Taste of Elegance. And this year our very own  Chef  Christian along with Owner Brian Rubenzer,  was a competitor and named one of the top chef’s in Minnesota! So this month we want to honor and congratulate Our Chef on the amazing work he’s done in this competition and for Lettuce Cater.

For those of you who don’t know, this is no small feat. Many chefs compete in The Taste of Elegance for years without winning. To explain, the Taste of Elegance is the largest competition in the state where sixteen top chefs from hotels, private clubs and restaurants in Minnesota go head to head preparing their best dishes.

The chef’s are judged on a number of elements including their presentation, originality, flavor and texture of their dish. The chef’s then had to prepare samples of their competing dishes for over 700 guests at the award ceremony. The guests were comprised of individuals chosen by the MN Pork Board ranging from legislators to senators, to business owners.

But after the food was made, the dishes presented, and the votes tallied there could be only one winner. I’m sure that was no easy decision. The food industry is an extremely competitive one and includes some very talented individuals.

Drum roll please…First place went to Chef Tim Kovacs at the Marquette Hotel in Minneapolis. He will be going on to California for the finals. Second place went to the well- known Chef Jeff LaBeau from the Depot Bar and Grill. And third place was our Chef Congratulations to each of these chefs for being recognized as the top chefs in Minnesota. All of us food lovers are glad to have you here. Look for features on Christian Orosz and the other top chef’s in upcoming Minneapolis Food magazines.