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President's Message - April 2004
The March meeting of the ECB was held at the Sheraton Hotel
in Braintree on Monday, March 15. Our Host Chef for this meeting
was ECB member and Executive Chef Daniel Buker. The meeting was
well attended by members and guests as well as some new contacts
we had made from the New England Foodservices and Lodging Exposition.
At the start of the evening, I had the pleasure of swearing two
new members into our club. After the business of the club was
completed, our dinner began with a Wild Mushroom and Boursin
Strudel with Garlic and Shallot Demi Glaze. The second course
featured Mixed Baby Spinach with Roasted California Grapes and
Imported Gorgonzola Cheese. The entrée was a perfectly
Roasted Tenderloin of Beef, with Yukon Hash, Haricot Juan and
Fresh Asparagus. To top off this wonderful dinner, we were treated
to a very creative Goat Cheese Crème Brulee. Chef Buker
also was kind enough to invite some ECB members to share his
kitchen and help to prep and present our dinner, which was an
added treat. I would like to thank the following ECB members
for a great evening: Executive Chef Daniel Buker, Chef Kevin
Doherty, Chef Terry Byrne and Matt Poulin. Thanks also go to
Chef Steve Merrill of The Sheraton Hotel, Needham and also to
The Sheraton Hotel, Braintree and its staff for the fabulous
service.
Our April meeting will be held at Massasoit Community College.
The Host Chef for this meeting will be ECB member Anthony Giuffre,
CEC, CCE. I will be away for this meeting so Denise Graffeo,
CEC, AAC will be running the show for me (thanks!). I know already
that Anthony and Denise have planned a great evening and they
are looking forward to seeing you all there.
As you know, the ECB was present at the New England Foodservices
and Lodging Exposition. From our standpoint the show was a great
success! Our booth was on the first floor right next to the chef
demo area, which was an ideal location. This enabled us to connect
with many of our old friends, as well as to gain some new members
and of course, make some new contacts and friends. In addition,
New England Foodservice News (formally Modern Foodservice) wrote
a story about the ECB’s 110th Anniversary, which was circulated
at the show. On Sunday, Tony Graffeo and myself were interview
on live radio by Pat Whitley on WRKO, which is always interesting.
I would like to thank the following members who worked at the
ECB booth: Tony Graffeo CEC, AAC, Jeffrey Barr, Al McPhee, Steve
LaCount CEC, AAC, Mike Ciuffetti, CEC, and Gregg Dyer, CEC. I
thank you all for giving of your free time to help promote the
ECB, and rest assured that that every minute of it does count.
The ACF Northeast Regional Conference was held in Newport, RI
from March 17th through the 22nd. The ACF and ACF RI Chapter
had asked the ECB to help them with a silent auction to support
our 2004 National Culinary Team, who will be heading to Germany
in October to compete against the best Culinary Teams from 70
other countries. We received 62 items for ACF members to bid
on, a total of $3700 was raised. Thanks to everyone who participated.
I was happy to see a large presence of members at the Rhode Island
conference, especially to witness the ECB receiving a Gold Plate
from the ACF for its work during the past year. This honor placed
us in the running for Chapter of the Year. Though we did not
prevail, it was an honor to be in consideration again for this
outstanding award. The ECB was also recognized for the work that
we did on behalf of the ACF Culinary Team’s Auction. Chef
Tony Graffeo was nominated for The Herman Rush Life Time Achievement
Award. Even though Tony did not receive this award, we should
congratulate him for being one of a very few select Chefs worthy
for consideration for this most prestigious award. Congratulations
also go out to Chef Paul Pantano, CEC, CCE, AAC, as his nomination
has been accepted for induction into the American Academy of
Chefs Hall of Fame. Paul’s official induction will take
place in July at the American Academy of Chefs Dinner at the
ACF National Convention.
This year is the 110th anniversary of the ECB. In honor of this,
I am calling on any members who might possess memorabilia from
the ECB, Massachusetts Chef de Cuisine (MCC) and or ACF Greater
Boston Chapter, such as old menus from meetings/events or President’s
Balls, minutes from meetings, newsletters, awards and etc. If
you have items such as these, please contact Steve LaCount, Denise
Graffeo, Tony Graffeo, or myself, as we are collecting these
items to help put together our President’s Ball Program.
In addition, I have been speaking with the Director of the Culinary
Museum at Johnson & Wales about donating the collection of
these items, as well as other ECB and MCC memorabilia that I
presently have, to the museum to create a permanent collection
to be stored and preserved at the Johnson & Wales Culinary
Museum for future generations to use. I know that with your help
this will be an outstanding collection. I’m also asking
that you please spread the word about this project to ex-members
who might have items of interest and who might be interested
in donating to this collection. Thank you and I look forward
to seeing you soon.
Warmest Regards,
Rico DiFronzo, CEC
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