RICHARD I. COTTON
30 Montebello Drive ♦ Vernon Hills, IL 60061
(847) 873-6758 ♦ [email protected]
Education History:
The Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, NY
A.O.S. Degree, Culinary Arts
Triton College, River Grove, IL
A.A.S. Degree, Restaurant Management
Certifications:
— Certified Sanitation, State of Illinois — HACCP Trained — SureQuest Champion
— Certified Sanitation, City of Chicago — Alto Shaam Trained
Employment History:
Dining Services Director
Warren Barr North Shore
Regional Operations Director
Strategic Dining Services
Food and Beverage Director
Five Star Senior Living
Regional Culinary Support Manager/Dining Services Director
Unidine Corporation
Corporate Executive Chef
Integrated Inventory Technologies/SourceTech
Corporate Executive Chef
Giannis Enterprises
Executive Chef/Food Production Manager
Morrison Senior Dining, Skokie, Illinois
Team Leader/Executive Chef
Whole Foods Market, Chicago, Illinois
Executive Chef
Sodexho Marriot Corporation, Lake Forest and Northbrook, Illinois
Executive Chef/Chef Consultant
Country Squire Restaurant, Grayslake, Illinois
Executive Chef
Simply Elegant Catering, Chicago, Illinois
Executive Chef/Manager
Eurest Dining Services, Chicago, Illinois
The Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, NY
A.O.S. Degree, Culinary Arts
Triton College, River Grove, IL
A.A.S. Degree, Restaurant Management
Certifications:
— Certified Sanitation, State of Illinois — HACCP Trained — SureQuest Champion
— Certified Sanitation, City of Chicago — Alto Shaam Trained
Employment History:
Dining Services Director
Warren Barr North Shore
- Oversee and manage staff of 25 dietary aides and cooks.
- Responsible for total operation of department, including menu development, scheduling and budgets.
- Interact with residents to ensure they receive the best possible culinary experience while following their dietary needs.
Regional Operations Director
Strategic Dining Services
- Partner with independent healthcare facilities throughout the Midwest to ensure their dining services meet or exceed industry standards.
- Train staff on scratch and batch cooking and baking.
- Educate front-of-house staff on proper service etiquette.
- Assist communities in planning new construction, including kitchen design and equipment selection.
Food and Beverage Director
Five Star Senior Living
- Responsible for entire food and beverage operation of 350 bed CCRC.
- Trained staff at newly acquired communities throughout northern Illinois and Wisconsin.
- Managed 75 full and part time employees for both front and back of house operations.
- Organized, implemented and invited chefs throughout the country for Five Star chef school.
- P & L responsibility with annual budget of more than $1.2 million.
Regional Culinary Support Manager/Dining Services Director
Unidine Corporation
- Assisted with new account opening and staff training.
- Maintained or exceeded compliance standards for meal service and food quality for five kitchens.
- Performed daily audits of safety, sanitation, food quality and meal delivery for a CCRC census of 300.
- Met with guests and all new residents to ensure their satisfaction.
- Mentored 50 employees while encouraging their strengths and diminishing their weaknesses.
- Worked with clients to maintain a safe working environment.
- Fostered special events to create an enjoyable atmosphere for residents, staff and guests.
- Complied with all Unidine fresh food standards for both dietary and budgetary guidelines.
Corporate Executive Chef
Integrated Inventory Technologies/SourceTech
- Responsible for recipe creation, development, testing and menu photography for inventory control company for the nursing and healthcare facility industry.
- Hired and trained facility dietary management and staff at client facilities on back-of-the house procedures, sanitation, Alto Shaam products and proprietary computer software.
- Developed and designed facility kitchens to comply with state and local sanitation regulations.
- Created facility standard operating procedures, with QA reporting, check lists and HACCP procedures.
- Followed strict dietary guidelines to comply with ADA regulations.
- Created sanitation QA in
accordance to federal F TAG guidelines and conducted QA surveys.
Corporate Executive Chef
Giannis Enterprises
- Responsible for overseeing total day-to-day operations of eight restaurants.
- Performed menu cost analysis and established pricing and ordering guidelines.
- Developed new recipes and reformulated existing recipes.
- Trained more than 50 staff members at multiple locations.
Executive Chef/Food Production Manager
Morrison Senior Dining, Skokie, Illinois
- Responsible for food service operations for multi-unit facility.
- Managed 45 Union and non-Union employees.
- Responsible for menu development, food costs, recipe development, banquets and ordering.
Team Leader/Executive Chef
Whole Foods Market, Chicago, Illinois
- Responsible for overall operations of Prepared Foods department and managed staff of 45.
- Fiscally responsible for budgeting, labor and food costs.
- Managed team to win three consecutive product sales contests.
Executive Chef
Sodexho Marriot Corporation, Lake Forest and Northbrook, Illinois
- Responsible for entire food service operations for six locations of client.
- Supervision of 29 kitchen staff employees and kitchen managers.
- Implemented IPW and Menu Essentials programs for all six locations.
- Day-to-day operations for $8 million corporate dining conference center.
- Development and implementation of new menu for both dining center and conference center.
- Implemented a presentation cooking area.
- Planning and preparation of all catering and special events.
- Reduced food cost by 8% in less than 1 year.
Executive Chef/Chef Consultant
Country Squire Restaurant, Grayslake, Illinois
- Responsible for new menu development for dinner, banquet, early bird, lunch, brunch and kid menus.
- Managed overall operations of high-volume restaurant kitchen and very successful banquet kitchens.
- Developed and priced new recipes, daily specials and standard menus.
- Performed quality control on all menu items.
Executive Chef
Simply Elegant Catering, Chicago, Illinois
- Responsible for entire catering operations for catering company’s largest client, encompassing more than $3,000,000 in annual revenue.
- Developed and implemented new menu, with fresh concepts and innovative ideas.
- Supervision of complete kitchen staff.
- Responsible for development and specs of new kitchen in another off-premise catering site.
Executive Chef/Manager
Eurest Dining Services, Chicago, Illinois
- Responsible for total day-to-day and event operations of subsidized contract food operation.
- Maintained computerized bookkeeping records to comply with both client and corporate operations.
- Introduced a new, diverse menu mix resulting in a lowered client subsidy.
- Implemented new programs such as everyday menus, theme days, catering menus, breakfast specials and an updated salad bar to result in an increase in sales of approximately 40%.
- Increased catering sales by 28% in a one year period.
- Introduced heart-healthy menu items which met and exceeded clients’ expectations.
- Co-chairperson in developing Eurest Dining Services Chef Competition.
- Supervised total kitchen operations for client Christmas party for more than 1100 guests.