Virginia Chefs Association

Virginia Chefs Association The Virginia Chefs Association is a local chapter of the American Culinary Federation. Please contact us for membership information.

In 1974, three Richmond, Virginia based chefs decided to organize a group of prominent culinarians with the idea of promoting professional growth and education of the Culinary Arts. These Virginia chefs - Lloyd Garrad, Executive Chef of the Hyatt House, Werner Muensch, chef and general manager of the Commonwealth Club, and Hartmut Brown, executive chef of the Commonweath Club – were part of a rena

issance in the fine dining industry occurring from Richmond to Williamsburg. They recognized that, in order to maintain this growth and to prosper, they needed to network and to prepare up-and-coming culinarians for the trade. Thus was born the Virginia Chefs Association. They recruited 12 additional charter members from some of the area's finest dining establishments of that time: Heinrich Schneider, Tom Jordan, Rolf Herion and Marcel Desaulniers, Paul Elbling, Charles Cannon, Klaus Hergenroether, William Pearce, Anthony Amato, Joe Hidahgo, Tom Haley and San Chai Kas Kaowsan. Charles Houston, in his reports for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, called this group of Virginia chefs "The Culinary League of Nations". The organization grew from 15 to 30 in just 16 months. In 1975, the organization established the Virginia Chefs Association Apprenticeship Program, chaired by Werner Muench and co-chaired by Marcel Desaulniers. The inaugural year of the program included 12 apprentices and later grew to a respectable 30 apprentices , making it one of the most renowned programs in the nation. From its beginning in 1975 to today, the program has graduated several hundred apprentices. By 1990 the Virginia Chefs Association was comprised of 125 active members including restaurant chefs, caterers, institutional foodservice directors, apprentices, and representatives from food distributors and manufacturers. To this date, the Virginia Chefs Association is still a very active Chapter comprised of nearly 90 members. The Chapter has evolved to include more educational programs, fundraisers, social events, and public awareness campaigns. Over the years, the Virginia Chefs Association has published several cookbooks and once again is very active in promoting the American Culinary Federation Apprenticeship program. Currently, the Apprentices raise their own funds by producing and selling handcrafted baked goods at local farmers markets and holding an annual dining extravaganza called " Passing the Torch". These activities allow the students valuable team building skills as well as promoting the Craft in the public eye. Although a website was in existence for several years, the Chapter saw the need to update the site, making its contents more user friendly and using the technology to embrace the long, legendary HISTORY of this organization for years to come.

33rd Annual Chefs Seafood Symposium. Very informative day capped off with a culinary demonstration of cioppino by Chef H...
03/10/2026

33rd Annual Chefs Seafood Symposium. Very informative day capped off with a culinary demonstration of cioppino by Chef Heather Minter from

Mark Wednesday, June 10th on your calendar. We will be have a meeting with ECPI in Richmond at 3 pm. We toured the campu...
03/05/2026

Mark Wednesday, June 10th on your calendar. We will be have a meeting with ECPI in Richmond at 3 pm. We toured the campus yesterday and it was a very impressive facility. We are working on a very interactive program for the membership.

Great meeting at the Entegra Performance Kitchen yesterday. Many thanks to John Csukor and his team for a phenomenal pre...
04/10/2025

Great meeting at the Entegra Performance Kitchen yesterday. Many thanks to John Csukor and his team for a phenomenal presentation

Save the date! Wednesday April 9th at 3 pm. Meeting and educational program at Entegra Performance Kitchen in Ashland. F...
02/20/2025

Save the date! Wednesday April 9th at 3 pm. Meeting and educational program at Entegra Performance Kitchen in Ashland. Featuring one of the most dynamic speakers in the culinary world, John Csukor, Vice President of Entegra North America

Meeting/Social reminder: Today, Monday February 17th from 5 until 7 pm. Aleweks Brewing, 189B Ewell Rd, Williamsburg, VA...
02/17/2025

Meeting/Social reminder: Today, Monday February 17th from 5 until 7 pm. Aleweks Brewing, 189B Ewell Rd, Williamsburg, VA

Members, Chefs, associated members, spouses, significant others are invited. This is a very casual meet up to celebrate making it through the holidays. Since the brewery doesn’t serve food, some of us are bringing some different things, so if you are so inclined, feel free

Something a little different…We’re having a “meet up” social at Alewerks on Monday February 17th at 5 pm. No business, n...
01/27/2025

Something a little different…We’re having a “meet up” social at Alewerks on Monday February 17th at 5 pm. No business, no education program, just camaraderie, networking, and…oh yeah, beer! So come join us, we made it through the holidays, so why not celebrate? And if you’re a Chef and not in the Association, come on by, we’d love to have you! You can find out about the VCA or at the very least, just hang with a bunch of Chefs 😁👨‍🍳

Chefs, I am saddened to have to post this. Bruce Baker was a great friend to the Virginia Chefs Association. Whenever we...
01/07/2025

Chefs, I am saddened to have to post this. Bruce Baker was a great friend to the Virginia Chefs Association. Whenever we had a need, he and Baker Brothers Produce was always there. He was a true gentleman.

View Lloyd Bruce Baker Sr.'s obituary, send flowers and sign the guestbook.

Well, it appears that I have gotten way behind with my posts 🤦🏻‍♂️. A big thank you to and winemaker Matthew Meyer for...
12/02/2024

Well, it appears that I have gotten way behind with my posts 🤦🏻‍♂️. A big thank you to and winemaker Matthew Meyer for hosting our November meeting. What a facility! We had a great meeting followed by a wine tasting with Matthew afterwards. If you get a chance, you have to pay Gauthier a visit. It’s centrally located in New Kent County, so it’s an easy drive from either Williamsburg or Richmond and will definitely be a regular meeting place for the Virginia Chefs Association.

It’s been quite a while since I have had a formal professional headshot taken. Thank you for making me look better than...
11/07/2024

It’s been quite a while since I have had a formal professional headshot taken. Thank you for making me look better than I do in person. 😁

What’s the occasion? With the support and encouragement of some of my mentors and colleagues, many of whom are legends in the culinary world, I have been nominated to run for Southeast Regional Vice President of the American Culinary Federation, the largest professional chefs’ organization in North America. This is truly the greatest honor of my career. More to come...

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Williamsburg, VA
23185

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