The Mobile Teaching Kitchen, Elly (whose name was inspired by the Chartwells K12 “Eat.Learn.Live” philosophy), is a custom-designed container built into a fully-functioning kitchen. They’re using it to teach students not only how to prepare and cook delicious meals, but also about the foods in their meals—where the meals come from, and their impact on our bodies, communities and planet.

With the goal of reconnecting students to the food they are eating, Elly hopes to equip them with the knowledge and tools to make healthy choices and ultimately advocate for healthful change within their communities.

Food + Curriculum: On the Road

Chefs become teachers. Chartwells K12 recognizes that their team of chefs play an important role as powerful advocates for healthy meals and food education.

The Mobile Teaching Kitchen curriculum is taught by a chef and dietitian team and focuses on four key learning objectives:

1. Culinary Skill: teaching 1-2 techniques per lesson
2. Food Education: focusing on food origins and culture
3. Wellness Message: providing practical nutrition knowledge
4. Discovery Moment: discovering new foods.

Elly’s Journey So Far

Elly has travelled over 2,200 miles and impacted almost 2,000 students teaching a total of 69 lessons. Her students have included middle schoolers, high schoolers, special needs students, and culinary students.

A survey of participating students at Elly’s first two stops revealed positive outcomes that can impact students’ long-term food and health decisions:

• 8 percent more students were very confident following a simple recipe
• 15 percent more students were very confident about preparing and cooking new foods and recipes
• 29 percent more students were very confident about being able to cook from basic ingredients

Check out her most popular recipe below:

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Looking for a way you can get involved? Try out one of our “Root to Stem” recipes below!

Join us in celebrating Stop Food Waste Day on April 28th! You can find additional recipes to Stop Food Waste here!

The post Stop Food Waste Day: Recipe to Make a Difference appeared first on Compass USA.

Jonathan Squibb: How did you get your start?

Chef Page Pressley: It started during my childhood in Santa Fe, New Mexico. My godmother taught me the Italian cooking she grew up with and it was all “downhill” from there. I fell in love with the adrenaline rush from experimenting in the kitchen and creating something new. After high school I attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park.

JS: What drove you to open your own restaurant?

Chef Page: Emmer & Rye grew out of my desire to really grow my creativity and narrow my culinary focus. Before Emmer & Rye, I was working for Star Restaurants, and going between 40 properties and was ready to slow down. Emmer & Rye offered me the opportunity to focus on creating elegant and uncomplicated dishes from our local farmers.

JS: How did you get involved in the StarChefs program?

Chef Page: As small restaurant operators we are always looking for a bigger audience to tell our story. StarChefs’ marketing director is an old friend of mine and the program felt like a great fit.

JS: What attracted you to working with Compass?

Chef Page: Fundamentally, our culinary brands and vision just fit. Being able to engage with people who have so much influence is remarkable. That is how real change happens. Sometimes doing it the right way is harder, actually it almost always is, but that’s a good thing. It keeps everyone more engaged in the process.

JS: Last question, what’s your favorite dish to prepare?

Chef Page: [Laughs] It’s so hard to choose! It really depends on what’s in season. Right now, it’s probably a caramelized sunchoke, and it happens to be what I’m serving tonight*.

*Author can personally vouch for and would highly recommend this dish.

The new partnership between Compass Group and StarChefs allows us to share our story with up-and-coming restaurant chefs and identify opportunities for collaboration. This partnership exemplifies the pillars of Envision 2020 and allows us to celebrate food, embrace a local stories, and connect with our communities.

About StarChefs
StarChefs members are a national community of people passionate about food and hospitality. Their membership provides access to industry influencers, product innovations, and culinary events across the country. Click here to learn more.

To learn more about how to get involved with this partnership, email us here!

The post Interview With A (Star)Chef appeared first on Compass USA.

Antoinette is a resident at a Morrison community and shared her story as part of MCL’s Heirloom program.

Growing up in a Polish family, Antoinette watched keenly as her mother cooked traditional dishes like pierogis, kielbasa, and cabbage for dinner. Her mother never measured – she would just taste and add a pinch here or a dash there until she was satisfied. Sometimes she would prepare soup with handmade noodles and chicken that her father brought home as payment from an odd job. As an adult, Antoinette enjoyed replicating her mother’s chicken noodle soup for her husband and three children. Antoinette doesn’t cook much anymore, but sometimes her daughter-in-law will stop by to pick up Antoinette’s handmade noodles to recreate the soup.

Family has always been a central part of Antoinette’s life. And during times of celebration like Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Mother’s Day, she has made it a tradition to gather the family together. Try Antoinette’s soup at one of your holiday gatherings!

As part of their Heiloom program, Morrison Community Living will feature recipes from their residents throughout 2017. Keep up with Heirloom through MCL’s Facebook page!

The post Morrison Community Living Presents “Heirloom” appeared first on Compass USA.

In an interview with the Washington Post, Chefs Albert Lukas and Jerome Grant talk about their journey creating a culinary experience at Sweet Home. They approached the project like curators, spending years developing the menu, doing extensive research and travel, and seeking inspiration from notable African American chefs. With stations representing various geographies, you’ll learn about African American culinary history from across the United States. Try one of their recipes from the Western Range station below!

The post A Fall Recipe from Sweet Home Café appeared first on Compass USA.

The Setting: A Morrison Community Living dining room at the Lenbrook Community in Atlanta, GA.

The Players:

• Stephen – the new Dining Services Director for the Lenbrook Community
• The Food Committee – a group of Lenbrook residents working with Stephen
• Lenbrook Residents – a community of residents from across the country

The Conundrum: Cornbread

A Little Background:
The basic cornbread conundrum exists on a simple level: sweet or savory, with tastes generally linked to geography. Residents from northern states have a preference for a sweeter cornbread while those from southern states have a taste for a more savory cornbread. However, at Lenbrook, the feud runs even deeper; down to whether or not whole corn kernels should be present in the bread, whether it should be prepared in a cast iron skillet or hotel pan, and how crumbly the final product should be.

The Story:
Though Stephen only began as the Dining Services Director at the Lenbrook Community four months ago, he is all too familiar with the cornbread conundrum. Having previously worked at senior living communities in Alabama and Kentucky, he was aware that controversies were escalating, but they weren’t nearly to the level of Lenbrook. No one really knows the origins, or which side struck first, but it’s lasted at least five years, with debates at all levels…

Upon Stephen’s arrival on the scene, with the conflicts escalating nearly to food fights, the Morrison Community Living team sought a peaceful resolution. They prepared near infinite iterations of cornbread ranging from a Salem Sweet to a South Carolina Savory and everything in between. The committee selected their favorites across every category, and that’s what is currently being served. Known as the Cornbread Compromise of 2016, it’s currently holding the community together.

If you visit Lenbrook now, you’ll find two cornbread offerings, a savory cornbread served in wedges and prepared in a cast iron skillet with just the right crumble ratio and a sweet cornbread cut into squares and prepared on a hotel sheet pan.

Stephen and the Morrison Community Living team are enjoying the armistice, but stirrings are rising around the sweet cornbread lacking the right amount of crumble and a jealousy of the crust found on the savory option. Only time will tell if the 2016 compromise will keep the peace at Lenbrook.

The post The Great Cornbread Conundrum appeared first on Compass USA.

Click here to listen to Chef John’s full interview.

Chef John’s Apple, Kale & Spinach Smoothie

The post Chef John Rifkin Talks Morrison Community Living, Sustainable Seafood, and Shares a Refreshing Summer Recipe appeared first on Compass USA.

Though I visited Western Reserve Academy a number of times throughout high school (a rival for our athletic programs), I never had the opportunity to sample any of their food, which thanks to the work of Chef Eddie Mundy, is an absolute shame. Recently featured in Food Management, Chef Mundy’s culinary creations have been taking the campus by storm.

Having cooked with gochujang, a Korean red pepper paste, since college, Chef is obsessed, going so far to even call it the next Sriracha. Though he mentions it is typically used as an ingredient and plays a supporting role in other dishes and school meals he prepares, Chef Mundy also recommends making a gochujang dipping sauce with the addition of sesame seeds and oil.

Chef describes the flavor as “very intense, almost harsh, but with a spicy, earthy, funky and just-a-little-sweet vibe going on that’s amazing.”

Try out the recipe below!

Sesame Gochujang Dipping Sauce

Ingredients

• 1/4 C Gochujang
• 1/4 C Rice Wine Vinegar
• 1 T Light Soy Sauce
• 1 t Fish Sauce
• 2 T Honey
• 1 t Sesame Seeds
• 1 t Finely Minced Garlic
• 1/4 C Canola Oil
• 2 t Sesame Oil

Method

1. Combine gochujang, rice wine vinegar, light soy sauce, fish sauce, honey, sesame seeds and garlic in a bowl with whisk until loosely combined.
2. In measuring cup combine oils and slowly drizzle into gochujang mixture while vigorously whisking until well emulsified.

Enjoy!

Read more about Chef Mundy here! Be sure to keep up with more Flik Independent School Dining news on their Twitter!

-By Jonathan Squibb, Communications & Engagement Specialist, Compass Group USA

The post The “Next” Sriracha from FISD Chef Eddie Mundy appeared first on Compass USA.

Tour the world from the comfort of your dining room table with Morrison Community Living as they bring authentic global cuisine and traditions to their communities.

Today’s resident is well-traveled, highly educated and enjoys experiencing new cultures. Meal time is highly anticipated time of the day for residents so Morrison Community Living (MCL) strives to make it a memorable experience for not only residents, but also for their family and friends. As a result, the “A Meal in the Life” dining concept was created and developed by a committee of operators, chefs, dietitians and, marketers from across MCL’s communities.

“A Meal in the Life” is focused on celebrating different heritages around the world and taking part in their traditions at meal time. Communities are hosting an “A Meal in the Life” event three times per month. Culinary teams serve a family-style dinner, with residents’ family members invited, and includes a four course meal. Executive chefs also host two cooking demonstrations featuring one of the special menu items (Recipes are available here for the Italian Prosciutto Bruschetta or Native American Three Sisters Soup).

Additionally, Morrison Community Living strives to provide a fully immersive dining experience. For example, in December they celebrated the Italian heritage with traditional Italian music in the background and videos showcasing the scenery of Venice, Rome, and Florence. For Native American heritage, some communities invited traditional dancers and speakers to offer a firsthand look into their culture. One community even created their own educational video about the culture for residents to watch.

Get an inside look at the events through MCL’s social media!

Want to learn more about Morrison Community Living? Check out their website!

The post A Meal in the Life with Morrison Community Living appeared first on Compass USA.

They will offer innovative and elegant desserts such as pistachio crêpes with strawberry-Champagne foam and crumbled pistachio; caramelia shot with maple cream, muscovado couscous and coffee sorbet; chocolate passion layer cake with chocolate biscuit speculoos and banana ice cream; plus a chocolate dessert bar featuring Puck’s sought-after 24-karat-gold chocolate Oscars.

This is Puck’s 22nd consecutive year creating the menu for the Governors Ball.

The post Sneak Peek: Wolfgang Puck at the OSCARS® Governors Ball appeared first on Compass USA.