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Delaware North Five for Five at International Culinary Olympics

Global hospitality and food service leader earns three medals and two diplomas in first Olympics

ERFURT, GERMANY (November 3, 2008) – Delaware North Companies, a global leader in hospitality and food service, is leaving the International Culinary Olympics with three medals and two diplomas, thanks to the efforts of the five chefs who competed under the company’s banner. They are:
  • Tab Daulton, executive chef at HSBC Arena in Buffalo, N.Y.;
  • Kevin Doherty, executive chef at TD Banknorth Garden in Boston;
  • Scott Green, executive chef at Fairgrounds Gaming & Racing in Hamburg, N.Y.;
  • Ambarish Lulay, chef de cuisine, at The Ahwahnee in Yosemite National Park; and 
  • Rick Ortiz, executive sous chef for fine dining at Soldier Field in Chicago.
All except Daulton competed in the “A” category of the cold-foods competition, which requires chefs to present six appetizers and a platter for eight people. Daulton presented in the “B” category, which consists of a three-course meal.
Each of the chefs earned a prize for his entry: 
  • Daulton earned a diploma;
  • Doherty won a bronze medal;
  • Green earned a silver medal;
  • Lulay earned a silver medal; and 
  • Ortiz won a diploma.
The chefs were coached by Roland Henin, Delaware North’s corporate chef and chief culinary ambassador. Henin, one of only 60 or so American Culinary Federation-certified master chefs in the United States, is a highly regarded culinarian with significant coaching experience at the international level. He led the American national team to a gold medal in the 1992 Culinary World Cup and is currently the coach of the American team that will compete in the Bocuse d’Or in Lyon, France, this January.
Kieran Moore, executive chef for Delaware North at Emirates Stadium in London, joined the chefs in Germany to support their efforts.
More than medals
Jeremy Jacobs Jr., executive vice president of Delaware North and the force behind the company’s campaign to be the most respected culinary company in the world, described the chefs’ accomplishments as “phenomenal” after the final awards ceremony yesterday.
“You exceeded all of our expectations,” Jacobs told the chefs.
The road to the Olympics is just one in a series of efforts Delaware North undertook several years ago to demonstrate its expertise in every manner of food service. The company established the sports concessions industry nearly a century ago, and is oftentimes more closely identified with casual fare than it is with high-end cuisine. 
“The fact is, we have incredible culinary talent,” Jacobs said. “And we’re determined to tell that story to our clients and guests.”
Delaware North operates The Ahwahnee, arguably the most luxurious and fabled hotel in the national park system, and The BALSAMS Grand Resort Hotel, whose food last year received a perfect score from Conde Nast Traveler. The company also has in Henin one of the most well-known and respected chefs in the world. 
Jacobs is intent on sharing that kind of information. And so, he has been unfolding a plan aimed at changing the perception that Delaware North is first and foremost a concessions company. Among his initiatives:
  • He formed the Culinary and Hospitality Council in 2006. It is a group that meets every other month to examine issues such as recruitment and retention; training; and standards;
  • He approved and implemented the council’s recommendation that all Delaware North chefs receive the appropriate level of American Culinary Federation certification within three years of joining the company. Delaware North pays for the training and the exam, and makes it possible for chefs to have time away from their jobs in order to prepare for and take the exam;
  • He established culinary scholarships in the name of Delaware North at the Culinary Institute of America and at Johnson & Wales University;
  • He instituted the Food and Beverage Summit, a weeklong developmental and teambuilding experience designed to give company chefs much-needed time away from the kitchen for the sake of meeting colleagues, learning about trends and discussing challenges.