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(Chicago, Ill.) The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF), in partnership with Nation’s Restaurant News and founding sponsor The Coca-Cola Company, hosted the 2007 SPIRIT Awards and FMP® Recognition Breakfast on Monday, May 21 at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place in Chicago, Ill. The SPIRIT Awards and FMP Recognition Breakfast honored the winners of the 2006 SPIRIT Awards and acknowledged those who have received the NRAEF’s Foodservice Management Professional credential. Chef Jeff Henderson delivered the keynote address at this year’s event.
“The NRAEF’s SPIRIT Awards & FMP Recognition Breakfast provides a tremendous opportunity for us to recognize those individuals and organizations who go above and beyond in ensuring our industry has the workforce and leadership it needs to remain the cornerstone of our nation’s economy,” stated Mary M. Adolf, president and chief operating officer, NRAEF. “Chef Henderson embodies the message of this breakfast, that with determination and fortitude all things are possible. He represents the true spirit of our industry, and we were proud to have him join us.”
The breakfast was followed by the SPIRIT Awards Workshop “Employees: The Spirit of the Industry,” during which the 2006 award winners presented and took questions on their outstanding people practices.
Chef Henderson is the author of The New York Times bestselling memoir Cooked: From the Streets to the Stove, From Cocaine to Foie Gras. Chef Jeff is an award-winning chef who made history by becoming the first African-American to run a restaurant at Caesars Place in Las Vegas. He is currently the executive chef at the Café Bellagio and is the recipient of such accolades as Las Vegas Chef of the Year and the Culinary Award of Excellence.
The SPIRIT Awards is a joint effort between the NRAEF and Nation’s Restaurant News, honoring those restaurant and foodservice establishments who, through their recruitment, training and retention programs, truly understand that enhancing employee satisfaction ultimately leads to improved guest satisfaction. The program, now in its third year, has been met with wide acclaim throughout the industry. For further information on the 2007 SPIRIT Awards please visit http://www.mufso.com/awards.cfm.
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1. Mary Adolf, president & chief operating officer, NRAEF; Chef Jeff Henderson, Urban Educational Consulting; Bill Levisay, senior vice president of sales, Coca-Cola Foodservice |
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2. Alan Gould, publisher, Nation's Restaurant News |
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3. Chef Jeff Henderson, Urban Educational Consulting |
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4. Bill Levisay, senior vice president of sales, Coca-Cola Foodservice |
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5. Jim Wordsworth, FMP, president, J.R.'s Goodtimes, Inc.; Ron Higgins, chairman, Forbco Management Corp.; Mary Adolf, president & chief operating officer, NRAEF; Ruben Villavicencio, incoming chairman of the NRAEF board of trustees and president & CEO, R&M Food Services, Inc. |
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6. Kirk Bachmann, vice president of Education, Le Cordon Bleu Schools North America; Russ Fletcher, The Coca-Cola Company; Josh Nations, The Coca-Cola Company |
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7. Joe Fassler, FMP, consultant, Viad Corp.; Ed Tinsley, immediate past chairman of the NRA Board of Directors, and president & CEO, Tinsley Hospitality Group; Michael Kaufman, vice chairman of the NRA Board of Directors and president, Pond Hill Ventures LLC; Ray Kavanaugh, immediate past chairman of the NRAEF Board of Trustees and professor & department head of the Department of Hospitality & Tourism Management, Purdue University; Christianne Ricchi, president, i Ricchi Restaurant |
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8. Terrence Donahue, vice president of Instructor Quality, NRAEF; Gerry Fernandez, president, Multi-cultural Foodservice Hospitality Alliance; Alan Gould, publisher, Nation's Restaurant News |
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9. Chef Jeff Henderson, Urban Educational Consulting; Harry Bond, president, Monical's Pizza |
The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to fulfilling the educational mission of the National Restaurant Association. As the nation's largest private sector employer, the restaurant and foodservice industry is the cornerstone of the American economy, of career-and-employment opportunities, and of local communities. Focusing on three key strategies of risk management, recruitment, and retention, the NRAEF is the premier provider of educational resources, materials, and programs which address attracting, developing and retaining the industry’s workforce. For more information on the NRAEF, visit www.nraef.org.
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