Chef John Draz received his associate’s degree from The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York in 1981 and was the recipient of the Edward T. Hanley Scholarship. During his nearly 30 years in the field, Chef Draz has worked at numerous restaurants including The Ritz-Carlton Chicago, The Winnetka Grill, The Ninety-Fifth, and Café Provencale. In 1983, Chef Draz was featured in the PBS television series Great Chefs of Chicago.
Chef Draz was a founding faculty member of the Kendall College School of Culinary Arts in Evanston, Illinois. While serving on the faculty, he taught a wide variety of subjects related to professional cookery. Chef Draz served as chair of the culinary department from 1988 to 1991, supervising all aspects of instruction and college foodservice. He has earned certifications from the American Culinary Federation including Certified Executive Chef and Certified Culinary Educator.
In addition, Chef Draz has experienced entrepreneurship as chef/owner of a 300-seat fine-dining restaurant. He has extensive consulting experience lending his talents to numerous independent restaurants, as well as organizations such as McDonald’s Corporation, Groen Corporation, Quaker Oats, and the National Dairy Board. Chef Draz currently serves as Executive Research Chef for Ed Miniat, Inc., a manufacturer of cooked meat products. In this position, he develops products and menu items for the frozen food industry and national restaurant chains.
You can view or download Chef Draz's PowerPoint presentations "Golf and Knife Skills: How your golf game can help you to better teach knife skills" and "Incorporation Social Studies in a Culinary Curriculum."
Chef Christopher Koetke is the dean of the School of Culinary Arts of Kendall College. Before being named dean, he was a chef instructor for six years, specializing in sauce making, charcuterie, and ice carving. Chef Koetke has been cooking professionally since 1982 in some of the best restaurants and pastry shops in France, Switzerland, and the United States. Before coming to Kendall College in 1998, he was the executive chef of Chicago’s critically acclaimed Les Nomades restaurant.
Chef Koetke has received numerous industry awards including Chef of the Year by the Chicago chapter of the International Food and Wine Society, ACF culinary competition medals, and third place in the US finals of the Bocuse d'Or. For several years, Christopher was a contributing editor to Chef, Chef Educator Today, and Fancy Food magazines. He currently sits on numerous boards nationally, is an elected commissioner of the American Culinary Federation Foundation Accrediting Committee, serves as a consultant to numerous foodservice enterprises, judges national culinary competitions, and frequently presents at professional conferences and various international culinary forums. Chef Koetke is often a guest on TV and radio broadcasts in Chicago and has produced numerous educational DVDs.
Chef Koetke has an MBA from Dominican University, BA in French Literature from Valparaiso University, and a Certificat de la Langue Française from the Sorbonne in Paris.
You can view Chef Koetke’s healthy cooking television show Let’s Dish! At LiveWellHD.com/LetsDish.
You can view or download Chef Koetke's PowerPoint presentation "Teaching Taste: The Most Fundamental Skill for the Successful Chef."