Show 364, March 14, 2020: Chef Jim Dodge, Bon Appetit Management Co.

Chef Jim Dodge of Bon Appetit Management Company“Hospitality veteran Jim Dodge (a multiple James Beard Award winner) has had a rich, wide-ranging culinary career. After growing up in the hospitality industry, he trained as a chef, became a celebrated pastry chef, published several cookbooks, opened a pastry shop and restaurant in Hong Kong, then became a culinary educator and joined the food service industry. Since 2004, he has been Bon Appétit Management Company’s director of specialty culinary programs, based in the corporate office in Palo Alto, CA, and donates his time regularly to charities throughout the country.”

“With Bon Appetit Management Jim now oversees training in specific global cuisines and techniques, hosts culinary demonstrations, and manages the company’s Star Chefs program, which invites chefs to Bon Appétit cafés for recipe-tasting and book-signing events to help promote their new cookbooks.”

“For seven generations, Jim’s family has managed a number of hotels and resorts in rural New Hampshire, where Jim received early training in hospitality and grew up cooking with local ingredients from nearby farms and food produced on his family’s land. Once in the kitchen, Jim knew he wanted to specialize in pastry. He trained with Swiss pastry chef Fritz Albicker, melding Swiss influence with his New England heritage to create a unique method of preparation and styling that set him apart as a chef.”

“In his 10 years at the Stanford Court Hotel in San Francisco, Jim became a nationally recognized pastry chef and embarked on a rich, wide-ranging culinary career. His experience and contributions are a testament to his passion for the craft of cooking and educating others.”

Jim is currently the jury chair for the first-ever Julia Child Award, and serves on the Advisory Council of the Julia Child Foundation. We’re in the kitchen with Jim Dodge.