Snapchef Leadership in the Foodservice & Hospitality Industry
It’s been a busy year so far at Snapchef and we continue to be engaged in leadership and support of the foodservice and hospitality industry as we ramp up to our 20th Anniversary kickoff at New England Food Show! Empowering the Next Generation of Culinary Professionals Snapchef was a proud sponsor and judge of the Massachusetts ProStart Invitational at Gillette Stadium, where high school students have the opportunity to compete in both culinary, cake decorating and management competition, with the hopes of being awarded scholarships and the chance to compete in the D.C. Nationals in May. Snapchef leadership will also [...]
Our Inspiration: The Cristeta Comerford Story
Cristeta Comerford, born in 1962 in the Philippines, is the first woman and first person of Asian origin to hold the post of White House Executive Chef. Born as Cristeta Gomez Pasia in Manila. She attended University of the Philippines, Diliman in Quezon City, majoring in food technology. She left school before completing the degree when she immigrated to the United States at the age of 23. Upon arriving in the U.S., she worked in hotels in the Chicago area. She then moved to Washington, D.C., and worked as a chef at two restaurants. She spent six months in Vienna as a rotating chef. Comerford was recruited by White [...]
Employee Spotlight: Michelle Jenkins
As we kickoff Women's History Month, we are proud to spotlight one of our very own Snapchefs, Michelle Jenkins. Michelle leads a fascinating and enterprising life, past, present and future. Before leading the recruiting team at Snapchef, she explored modeling, law, and was a life coach. She recently began a moving and inspirational podcast called, Unleashing Your Brilliance, which empowers mothers with sons of color to help guide their young men for their life ahead. She shares her own experiences and shows how her love, nurture, unwavering support of her son helped him to become the successful man that he [...]
Our Inspiration: The John Standard Story
John Standard was a Black inventor. Born in 1868 in Newark, New Jersey, there is not much known about his early life other than that he was born to Mary and Joseph Standard. Standard helped revolutionize the modern kitchen and was granted intellectual property rights to two patents throughout his lifetime. Standard's improvements to kitchen appliances lead to more innovations in both refrigerator and stove designs that would forever change the way people around the world stored and cooked their food. Throughout his career, Standard defied the racial norms of the time by exploring scientific research into cooling devices and stove constructions, a pursuit that [...]
Our Inspiration: The Zephyr Wright Story
Zephyr Wright, born in Texas in 1915, was the personal chef to President Lyndon B. Johnson. She made specialties like fried chicken, hash, peach cobbler, and popovers, and helped them quickly make The White House a coveted invite in Washington, D.C.'s dinner party scene. Wright was in charge of the home cooking for the Johnsons in the White House kitchen. She even made many meals, including VIP ones, in between the tenures of two White House Executive Chefs. Wright's influence extended beyond the White House kitchen. When LBJ was in Congress, the Johnsons would make the commute from Washington, D.C. to [...]
Tips for Short-Staffed Kitchens
How food service operations are structured to perform for their personnel will directly influence workplace morale, retention, and the ability to grow the business through their contributions. Sound business disciplines will also resonate in relationships with vendors and within the community, as their opinion of your company will shape those of others. Employees have an expectation that the company’s mindset and performance will match their perception of the company’s image and brand. Whenever your company is experiencing challenges, include your employees in the solution process. 5 Employee Workplace Assessments: Equitable Pay and Opportunity: Demonstrate fairness and invest in employee growth. Respect: Top-down [...]
Snapchef Announces Walter Miska as Director of Franchise Development
We're so thrilled to add Walter to the Snapchef Executive Team. Read the press release below and learn more about our Franchise Opportunities Here Press Release: CONTACT: Shelly Andrews sandrews@benchmark-strategies.com BOSTON, Mass.—Snapchef, a leader in temporary and permanent foodservice staffing and training, headquartered in Boston, Mass., has announced the hiring of Walter Miska as Director of Franchise Development. In anticipation of a major expansion, Miska and the executive team will be leveraging Snapchef's existing national preferred contracts with the world's leading foodservice providers to enable turnkey business opportunities across the country. Miska will develop the systems, policies, and procedures [...]
5 High-Performance Tools for a Beginner Chef
by Chef Ken When you start out cooking at home or professionally, there are so many tools and gadgets that will come in handy to make fresh ingredient preparations easier. Let’s assume that you have a variety of kitchen pans (we’ll cover that in another segment), you’ll want preparation tools that are truly essential for kitchen safety, accuracy, and efficiency. Investing in quality tools will prove beneficial and will be long-lasting with proper care. A large cutting board gives you proper space for organization and safe knife handling performance. Sharp knives are safer to use [...]
Industry Challenges: Labor and Staffing Shortages and Economic Recovery
For the past two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has created more competition for individuals who now have more career options driven by technology and remote working. The necessity for individuals to join the hospitality industry and become skilled professionals is pivotal not only for the restaurant industry, but also in hotels, hospitals, universities, conference centers, and corporate cafeterias. The food service and hospitality industry play a significant role as an economic driver. However, without qualified professionals, the industry has slowed down the overall post-pandemic economic recovery. The concerns of meeting national labor shortages go well beyond food service. According to [...]
