Celebrating Your Achievements

Alumni in the News

Kendall grads are frequently in the news. Let us know if you hear of other Kendall graduates that are making the news.

	Mindy Segal Opening Hot Chocolate Craft Food & Drink With a New Look and Philosophy Thursday This week, Segal will transform the HotChocolate she's grown into a successful business into her new concept: Mindy's Hot Chocolate Craft Food & Drink. The name change comes with a new direction where Segal says she's "moving away from the artistry of cooking toward the craft of cooking." Read more...
	Mindy Segal, Bruce Sherman, Next Win at Beard Awards After being nominated six times, Mindy Segal (HotChocolate) finally was honored with the Outstanding Pastry Chef award, while Bruce Sherman (North Pond), also on his sixth nomination, took home the award for Best Chef: Great Lakes. Read more...
	Chef Kara Sigle, owner of Nostalgic Catering in Chicago, will vie on the weekly challenge show for a chance to headline her own Food Network program. Guy Fieri, Aaron McCargo Jr., Melissa d’Arabian and Aarti Sequeira are among the winners from past seasons who have become familiar names on the Food Network. Read more...
	Graduate Interning at "Best Restaurant in the World" Kendall College graduate Kevin Marquardt landed an internship at Noma restaurant in Copenhagen, Denmark, voted the best restaurant in the world by Restaurant magazine. "I'm excited. It's a great opportunity," says the 23-year-old Marquardt, who leaves for Denmark later this month. Read more...
	Hot Doug Sohn wants your story. Specifically, he's got a book contract and he's eager to shift some of the work to you, the customer for whom Doug's radical rethinking of the sausage-bun paradigm was a life-changing event. Or as he puts it: "The part of my job I enjoy more than anything else is the interaction with the customers, and I want this book to be a reflection of that. Plus it’s less work for me. So please, send... us your stories, photos, memories, drawings, poems … anything that can go in a book. We’d love to consider including your contribution. Post it on Facebook, or email us at: HotDougsTheBook@gmail.com. Read more...
	Home Again restaurant to hold grand opening April 28 Chef/Ower Emily Schubkegel explains that the restaurant is a return to the area for her after eight years of working in the restaurant business in Chicago. “We named it Home Again because I was in Chicago and now I’m here,” Schubkegel said. Read more...
	Chicago Chef's Table Cookbook Launch at Province Local food writer Amelia Levin has spent so much time dining around the city, she's gotten to know the scene well. So well that she is releasing Chicago Chef's Table, a gorgeous cookbook profiling a number of the city's top chefs and restaurants including Paul Virant, Spiaggia, Randy Zweiban, The Publican, Lula Cafe, Tru, Green Zebra and many more. Read more...
	The team of Eric Stein, a Chef-Instructor at the Kendall College School of Culinary Arts, and Jaime Mestan, a Kendall College culinary alum ('08) and Research Chef at Ed Miniat Inc., took first place in the inaugural Professional Culinology Competition, March 23 in San Antonio, Texas, held in conjunction with the Research Chefs Association's (RCA) Annual Conference and Culinology Expo. Read more...
	During spring training, familiar eats for Chicagoans The smokin’ spring training destination for foodies is Distrito, tucked away in the new Saguaro Hotel in downtown Scottsdale. Distrito is the creation of “Iron Chef” Jose Garces, who was born to Ecuadorian parents and raised in Chicago. Read more...
	Mike Zakowski of Sonoma was part of the three-man American team who took home a silver medal last month during the 2012 “World Cup of Baking” in Paris. The contest, founded in 1992 to honor the art and craft of artisan baking, is held every three or four years in conjunction with the Europain trade show in Paris. It is considered the Olympics of the baking world. Read more...
	Chef Todd Stein is leaving the Florentine to serve as the executive chef at Tony Priolo's forthcoming Piccolo Sogno Due. "The goal is to always have your hand in the right things with the right people," Stein told Eater. Read more...
	He nurtures sustainable relationships - Swanson's entire day is occupied by creation of food connections Maybe you'd like to give David Swanson a call and chat about Braise, the collection of farm-to-table culinary endeavors he runs. Read more...
	Franks ’n’ Dawgs Owner Alexander Brunacci to Open The Peasantry in Lincoln Park. Read more...
	Chef-Instructor and Alumna to Compete in Competition Eric Stein, MS, RD, a chef-instructor at the Kendall College School of Culinary Arts, and Jaime Mestan, CSC, a Kendall College culinary alum (ʾ08) and research chef at Ed Miniat, Inc., in South Holland, Illinois, were recently selected to compete as a team in the inaugural Professional Culinology Competition, March 23 in San Antonio, Texas. Read more...
	In the presence of masters - a cooking class in Istanbul Turkey Our Asian cooking course took place in the back of the Klemantin bakery in Çiftehavuzlar, close to Bagdat Caddesi, which is under the ownership of Chef Deniz Orhun, one of the top three pastry chefs in Turkey. Deniz has an MBA from London College, and also has a degree from Kendall College in baking and patisserie. Read more...
	Mike Zakowski isn’t like other bakers, and he’s our man at the biggest competition in bread The world of baking seems to attract free spirits, but Mike Zakowski—who calls himself The Bejkr—stands out even among them. Few bakers, even the most committed artisans, mix their dough by hand, because of the demands of production. Nor do they work in a converted shipping container plopped in their backyard. Read more...
	Nick & Nino's: Steak, seafood and a 30th floor view If you go to Nick & Nino’s Steakhouse Penthouse on the 30th floor of the Hilton Springfield, you’ll notice the contemporary decor, the steaks and seafood on the menu and the stunning view of the city. But how is a new restaurant put together in the first place? Read more...
	Communal Italian dishes lure diners to Near A suburban native, Nardulli, a graduate of Kendall College culinary school in Chicago, spent a year working at restaurants in Italy and honed his skills at several high-profile restaurants in Chicago, including Spiaggia and Schwa. Read more...
	Moving up Like Wildfire Since 1971, Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, Inc., has created high-quality, successful restaurants. The company operates more than 80 establishments throughout the country. Wildfire (voted most-popular Chicago restaurant 2008 through 2010 by Zagat) has seven locations. The McLean, Va., venue is also bustling and can serve 1,000 customers per day. Having spent most of his career with the Lettuce Entertain You family, this kind of intense “kitchen heat” doesn’t intimidate Executive Chef Eddie Ishaq. He says, “Let’s go!” Read more...
	Loveland students sample foods for new district chef - Lisa Kendall aims to foster love, understanding of healthy eating The students chef Lisa Kendall sees every day on Thompson School District campuses come from varying backgrounds when it comes to their knowledge of and relationship with food. And while it's impractical to put students into only one or two camps, there are two overarching categories to which the masses belong, Kendall says. Read more...
	For nearly seven years, Lars Johnson and his wife, Jaymie, have welcomed guests to their intimate hideaway, South Bend Bistro, on the west side of Sunriver Mall. Seating only about 40 and open just five nights a week, they have succeeded with an ever-evolving menu of contemporary American cuisine, a quaint and unpretentious atmosphere, and a level of service that makes diners feel as special as they might at a favorite relative's home. Read more...
	Bill Kim has partnered with Cornerstone Restaurant Group and Michael Jordan to open Belly Q, an Asian barbecue concept. The restaurant, which also pairs Kim's wife, Yvonne Cadiz-Kim, will take over the now-shuttered one sixtyblue and open sometime this spring. Expect the space to undergo a full makeover and be a big departure from the look of the longstanding one sixtyblue, which sits at the far west end of the Randolph Street restaurant row. Read more...
	Park Grill Appoints New Executive Chef Thomas Donnelly Chef Donnelly is passionate about food and is committed to using high quality, seasonal ingredients that reflect a farm-to-table approach. His teacher-by-nature spirit will certainly elevate the culinary team and dining experience at Park Grill. Donnelly was born and raised in Chicago and is a graduate of the Culinary Arts program at Kendall College. He comes to Park Grill with over 15 years of restaurant experience that includes Le Bouchon, ten years with Levy Restaurants and Bistro 110, Bistro Margot, Lettuce Entertain You’s Brasserie JO and Sopraffina Marketcaffe. Read more...
	Jennifer Jones was awarded "Pastry Chef of the Year" by the 2012 Chicago Tribune Dining Awards. The first time Jennifer Jones set foot in Frontera Grill, she was a high schooler from Wheaton. These days she visits 445 N. Clark St. with some regularity; for the last three years, the Kendall College graduate and Charlie Trotter's alum has been the pastry chef at Frontera's upscale sibling, Topolobampo. Read more...
	Chef keeps family traditions alive Chef Michael Ponzio grew up standing beside his nonna as he learned to cook Italian delicacies such as homemade pasta, neck bone gravy and baccala, or salt cod. He was introduced to restaurant life at age 12 when he started working at his uncle's restaurant. After just one night, he knew that was where he wanted to be and enrolled at Kendall College in Chicago. Read more...
	Kendall Alum Chef Robert Nuey provided Sous Chef support for "The Pearl"... the second edition of the trilogy "The New Renaissance of Italian Fusion Cuisine". The Pearl has been successfully published and it is already the talk of town in the European, Asian and other culinary markets. Read more...
	Kendall grads place first and fifth in Pastry Chicago's most popular event of the year: the annual amateur Haunted Cupcake Competition. Read more...
	When it comes to pastry, Mindy Segal is right at home. With 20 years of crafting sweets under her belt, Segal combines her innate instinct for flavor combinations with her commitment to seasonal, local, and sustainable products. The result is desserts that are truly American; each creation is rooted in time-honored nostalgia, executed with a focus on quality, and innovative from just the right touch of contemporary twist. Read more...
	GM Laura Payne dishes on The Purple Pig. Read full interview on Eater...
	Highland Park’s Benjamin Restaurant may be Benjamin Brittsan’s first, but the ambitious chef already dreams of owning more. The Winnetka resident studied pastry at Kendall College and Cooking Hospitality of Chicago and has cooked under chefs Gale Gand and Rick Tramonto of the now shuttered Brasserie T. Read more...
	Beverly Kim, 31 – Chicago, Ill., Aria Restaurant, is one Bravo “29” hopefuls for the premiere date of their upcoming ninth season, also known as Top Chef: Texas: November 2. Unlike other years, though, the announcement was not accompanied by a list of cheftestapants-to-be; instead, Bravo announced 29 "hopefuls." The list will be narrowed down to 16 actual contestants who will then compete. Read more...
	Jenny McCoy is a graduate of the Baking and Pastry Certificate Program class of 1999 and just won StarChefs.com NYC Rising Star Pastry Chef award. Read more...
	Kelly Kleisner has joined Fat Hen Restaurant & Catering on Johns Island as pastry chef. She has a degree from Kendall College in Chicago. She also is owner of Mirabelle Bakery.
	Adam Siegel knew early on that he wanted to be a chef. With extensive experience working with French and Italian cuisine, he has become instrumental in keeping Lake Park Bistro and Bacchus, part of Milwaukee’s Bartolotta Restaurants, at the top of their game. He was one of five nominees for a 2007 James Beard Award for Best Chef for the Midwest region. Read more...
	Tuttis' Pizza Pasta pizzeria opened in late May 2011 and is working to make their pizza "everyone's" choice for excellant pizza and authentic Italian dishes. From sauces made from scratch, to homemade Italian sausage and meatballs; Caprese salad, and even some homemade dressings, like blue cheese and creamy garlic. Flavorific!! Read more...
	Dawali Mediterranean Kitchen on North Halsted Street is a smart new addition to Chicago’s Middle Eastern cuisine scene. Read more...
	Lawrence Letrero is Executive Chef of Tribute, a classic American restaurant with a modern culinary edge in the South Loop of Chicago. Upon graduation from Kendall College’s Culinary Program, Lawrence joined the opening team at Perennial Restaurant in Chicago’s Lincoln Park under Chef Ryan Poli. Read more...
	Jessica Hotz opened Tiers Designer Cakes. She describes her new business as an “upscale cake shop” that offers one-of-a-kind, made-to-order cakes. She specializes in fondant work, gumpaste flowers, piping work and carved cakes. Ideally, she’d like a minimum of one week’s notice for cake orders, and up to a month for more elaborate ones. Read more...
	Chef Donald Tiller's journey has turned into equal parts cautionary and culinary tale about health, wellness and him nearly losing his life. And he shares his story, along with a bounty of fresh food and nutritious recipes, on Fridays with students at Songhai Elementary Learning Institute, a Chicago public school on the South Side. Read more...
	Mary Beth Lutjen is the Master of Culinary Delights for all three Mather’s—More Than a Café locations. Lutjen, who runs the culinary services and manages the cooks at all three Mather’s locations, has been in this position for the last 6 years. Lutjen also taught a Kendall College years ago.
	Lawrence Letrero, a Kendall College culinary grad who has logged time at Karyn's On Green and Perennial, has been named executive chef of Tribute, the contemporary American restaurant aiming for a June opening in the South Loop. Read more...
	Kendall alum, Jim Chapman, takes home the prize for the People’s Choice awards at the Jean Bonchet Awards, Chef’s Gala benefitting the CF foundation. The Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Foundation brought together Chicago’s finest chefs to prepare and present their signature dishes for over 500 guests at the 14th Annual Fairmont Hotel and Resorts Grand Chefs Gala/Jean Banchet Awards for Culinary Excellence.
	For Steve Schwartz, Heather Behm and Vince DiBattista, the two Ts in restaurant stand for team. Their trifecta of talents has made three restaurants successful in Evanston, and they’ve stayed on the pulse—if not one step ahead—of trends in the food world. Read more...
	Eat Las Manas Tamales at Green City Market and Unwrap Local Goodness We like big husks, and we cannot lie, Las Manas Tamales lovers can’t deny, When Amber Wojcinski walks in — she’s a Kendall College-ette and Chopping Block vet — we get sprung, Want to know some more ’cause you gotta know what’s in store... Read more...
	A 20-minute drive from South Bend, and you're at Wheatberry Restaurant & Tavern, 15212 N. Red Bud Trail, where customers dine on Chicago-quality entrees at Buchanan prices. "We attract clientele from about a 60-mile radius," Rob Strom, one of the four restaurant owners, says. "Buchanan is a marvelous community. The response has been very positive. We owe a lot to the community." Rob Strom trained in culinary arts at Kendall College in Chicago.
	Alexys Galek recently graduated as a Pastry Chef through Kendall. One year ago, she started a company with her mother. Initially, they designed a cookie, manufactured it, and sold it to grocers and wineries all over the city and suburbs. The cookies were called L's Drizzles, appropriately named because they are drizzled with white chocolate. They are located at Southport Grocer, W Grocer, Goddess and the Grocer, Lynfred Winery, Galena Cellars, Anna Shea (South Barrington), Blue Goose Market (St. Charles), and many more local stores. Recently, Galek opened Dessertful Bakery in West Dundee. The bakery boutique serves foccacia and cheddar herb breads, sells beautiful serving dishes, hostess gifts, a coffee line, and more. The theme of the bakery changes with seasons and holidays.
	The Signature Room’s Executive Chef Patrick Sheerin announces today the promotion of Christine Radulescu to pastry chef from pastry sous chef. She now oversees seven cooks who help create over 1,000 desserts weekly for the upscale dining room. Read more...
	Bill Kim, along with his wife, Yvonne Cadiz-Kim, have created Urban Belly Foods and the first product they're working on is a still-unnamed soy balsamic. "You can use this as a marinade, a dipping sauce. You can add water or oil and it becomes a dressing. It can be whatever you need it be," Kim said of the soy balsamic, which he uses at Urban Belly. "It's a multi-purpose sauce. I want it to be like ketchup." Read more...
	Chef Ryan Sexton has been hired to serve as the new executive chef at Ernesto’s Wine Bar. Tom Revie, owner of the Benton Park wine bar and restaurant, has been looking for an exec since chef Cassy Vires left the position last November. Revie told The Scoop that Vires had hired Sexton on a part-time basis to work brunch at Ernesto’s when the restaurant opened in October 2009. Read more...
	“Food Network Challenge” competitor Miguel Garcia returned to his alma mater with sweet advice for Joliet Central High School students. “Keep on studying and don’t give up on your dreams,” Garcia said Friday. Cake designers Garcia, 25, and Orlando Serrano, 41, competed together four times on “Food Network Challenge” before winning. The cooking show pits professional chefs against each other in a timed competition in their specialty. Winners take home a gold medal and $10,000. Read more...
	Kendall alumni Michael White (Marea in New York City) and Mindy Segal (Mindy’s HotChocolate in Chicago) were named 2011 James Beard Award finalists. Michael was nominated for Best Chef: New York City (Five Boroughs), and Mindy for Outstanding Pastry Chef. Deemed “the Oscars of the food world,” by Time magazine, The James Beard Foundation Awards are the country’s most coveted honor for chefs; food and beverage professionals; broadcast media, journalists, and authors working on food; and restaurant architects and designers. Winners will be announced May 9. For a complete list of nominees, please visit http://www.jbfawards.com/2011/pdf/jbf-nominees.pdf. For more information on the James Beard Foundation, please visit http://www.jamesbeard.org/
	Kendall grad Arianne Vota Smeets creates AORTA TRANSFORMATA... the exhibit of the healing heart View the mixed media sculpture on canvas, take a virtual tour and learn more.
	Owners, chefs of Sardine urge home cooks to cook with passion and taste as you go. Read the profile and a favorite receipe of Kendall grad John Gadau.
	Chef Vincenzo Betulia says he knew he wanted to be a chef since he was very young. He was a prep cook for Paul Bartolotta's Ristorante Bartolotta in Milwaukee and quickly became its head chef. He moved to Chicago to be the executive chef of Spiaggia and at the same time attended culinary school at Kendall College. While vacationing in Naples in 2000 he dined at the 2-year-old Campiello Ristorante and says he fell in love with the food and the city. Read more...
	Greg Mosko is a young, hungry pastry chef with some serious experience under his belt. A graduate of both Kendall College's School of Culinary Arts and Chicago's The French Pastry School, Mosko went on to work locally, garnering experience... read more
	Chef Peter Rios is the mastermind behind Chicago-based Alliance Bakery & Cafe. Peter took a moment to share his thoughts and favorite recipes with Urban Vivant. Read more...
	Rancho Valencia, an Auberge Resort has appointed Eric N. Bauer Executive {Chef} where he oversees all dining aspects of the resort including The Restaurant, The Villas, in-room dining, as well as all banquet and catering events. Formerly the Executiv... read more
	Sara Lee Chef Catherine De Orio is a leading food expert who regularly appears on network affiliates and media outlets across the country, including WMAQ-TV (NBC, Chicago), WUSA-TV (CBS, Washington, D.C) and WJBK-TV (FOX, Detroit), to share her culinary expertise. Read more...
	Tim and Elizabeth Dahl, Kendall School of Culinary Arts graduates, recently opened Nostrano (111 S. Hamilton St.; 608-395-3295) on Capitol Square, Madison, Wisconsin. The husband-and-wife team can also cite Blackbird, Boka, Naha, NoMI, and Charlie Trotter’s as former employers. Read more...
	Tomasz Rybinski (B.A., Hospitality Management, 2005), a highly regarded chef in Chicago, particularly in its large Polish community, is known for his innovative dishes and attention to detail. Tomasz returned to Kendall College for the shooting of a 30-minute Polsat 2 International segment on Thanksgiving cooking to be broadcast November 10 to millions of viewers in Chicago and Poland. Chicago is home to more than 1.1 million people of Polish descent, the second largest Polish population outside of Warsaw, Poland’s capital . Included in the program were Chef Instructor Mike Artlip, who has done a lot of recipe development for the Polish Federation, as well as two students currently enrolled in the School of Culinary Arts.
	The online magazine Poor Taste just published a highly entertaining piece called "The 100 Greatest Cult Restaurants in America," and guess who's on top? Hot Doug's. Numero Uno. The article praises owner Doug Sohn's gourmet sausages and use of game meats, noting that any place where people willingly wait 40 minutes, often in the cold and rain, has to be special. Read more...
	In Good Taste is proud to announce that Chef Jeremy Niehuss has joined the professional team as Executive Chef of the cooking school. Read more...
	Ryan Hutmacher's culinary consulting business was born out of a personal mission. Now the winner of Crain's "A Day in the Life of an Entrepreneur" video contest is laying out plans to take his company to the next level. View Video.
	When John Simmons opened his first Firefly restaurant on Paradise Road seven years ago, tapas were virtually unheard of in Las Vegas. With two restaurants under his belt, Simmons recently opened his third Firefly near Summerlin. Read more...
	With a colorful culinary repertoire under his toque – and a knack for technical perfection – Executive Chef Dan Tucker is part of the extraordinary team at SUSHISAMBA rio. Read more...
	Slow Food Trending for several years on both the East and West Coasts, the cupcake business is about to get a little sweeter in West Michigan. Classically trained pastry chef Campbell Evett sensed an opportunity when she moved back to Grand Rapids. Read more...
	Joe Cheff and Todd Davies are longtime friends who have decided to start a chicken sausage and bratwurst company, along with promoting Two Brothers Brewing, a local beer brewer of which they are fond. Read more...
	Kendall grad, Emily Kutchens, still in the game on "Hell's Kitchen". Kutchens is competing against other culinary hopefuls for the top prize—executive chef of LA Market Kitchen and Wine Bar at the new JW Marriott at L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles and an annual salary of $250,000
	Joel Hetrick plays by his own rules. Read more... Joel Hetrick is sous chef at Classic Residence by Hyatt Read more... Joel Hetrick selected for Culinary Enrichment and Innovation Program. Read more... Senior dining comes of age. Read more...
	Chef Jason Paskewitz and managing partner Ryan O'Donnell open Gemini Bistro. Read more...
	Chef Jody Emer reinvents herself as a personal chef promoting wellness in Chicago's North Shore. Read more...
	Senior executive chef Patrick Hannan said he is instilling passion for food into his workers. They are trying to change the style of food cooked so everything is not a casserole. Read more...
	Mike Artlip, director of The School of Culinary Arts has been selected by the Illinois Association of Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) to receive an honorary membership, based on his contributions to high school culinary arts in Illinois. Read more...
	Rene Michelena opened La Bettola in 1998. That same year, Michelena was named one of Food & Wine magazine's Top 10 New Chefs in America. Now Rene is the Executive chef at Dolce De Palma Paninoteca in West Palm Beach. Read more...
	Congratulations to the 2010 James Beard Award Nominees, Kendall alumni Michael White, Mindy Segal and Michelle Gayer-Nicholson.
	Jack Evrensel, proprietor of Top Table Group, announced the promotion of David Gunawan to Chef de Cuisine of West Restaurant. "David is a tremendous talent who will provide a fresh focus for West’s kitchen,” said Evrensel. “His philosophy reflects the restaurant’s core values and our ongoing dedication towards providing exemplary fine dining experiences.” Read more...