Ferdinand Metz is a Certified Master Chef, and was the first CMC to also obtain a Master of Business Administration degree. He is the current President of the World Association of Cooks’ Societies heading an organization of 8 Million members in 72 countries and is also serving as Chairman of the Board of the NRA Education Foundation. His influence on the American foodservice industry as past President of The Culinary Institute of America (1980-2001) was acknowledged with the James Beard and American Academy of Chefs Lifetime Achievement Awards. As the former Manager of the Culinary Team USA, Ferdinand led the team to three consecutive world championships and was author of four editions of The Culinary Olympics Cookbook. His foodservice experiences include two apprenticeships in culinary arts and baking & pastry arts, 15 years as Senior R & D Manager of Heinz, as well as positions as Banquet Chef at New York’s prestigious Plaza Hotel and Tournant at the renowned Le Pavilion restaurant in New York City. Ferdinand is also co-owner of Ferdinand Metz Culinary Innovations, LLC, a food service consulting firm.

Edward Leonard is a Certified Master Chef who is the Executive Chef of the Westchester Country Club, which is a platinum club and ranked 14th among clubs in the United States, where Ed oversees a staff of over 65 running banquet facilities, fine dining as well as casual restaurants, and room service.

He is the current Vice President of the World Association of Cooks’ Societies and the past President of the American Culinary Federation (2001-2005). Ed is also the Manager and Team Captain of the ACF National Culinary Team USA. Under his leadership the team became gold medalists and world champions in the hot kitchen category at the Culinary Olympics (IKA) in Erfurt, Germany, in 2004.

Before assuming his position as Executive Chef of the Westchester Country Club, Ed was the executive chef and co-owner of Cantare, a three star Northern Italian restaurant in Chicago, and Corporate Executive Chef USA as well as Vice President of Food & Beverage Operations USA for Trust House Forte/Gardner Merchant, a London-based international company well-known for its hotels and commercial, corporate, as well as non-commercial dining venues.

Ed has recently published Tastes and Tales of a Chef: the Apprentice’s Journey (2004), Cooking with America’s Championship Team (2005), Culinary Competitions. Cooking to Win (2005) and has just finished his fourth book Private Club Cuisine. Cooking with a Master Chef which will be released in February 2006.

Ed travels internationally to speak about the culinary profession and give cooking demonstrations on American cuisine. He recently received an honorary doctorate in culinary arts from Johnson & Wales University for his impact on the food service industry and was just named by Santé magazine as Culinarian of the Year.

Reinhold Metz, is a German Certified Master Chef who is the outgoing President of the German Chefs’ Association (2001-2005) and also serves as European Continental Director of the World Association of Cooks’ Societies (WACS) and Chairman of the European WACS conferences. After three apprenticeships in culinary arts, baking & pastry arts, as well as dining room service, Reinhold first managed his family’s hotel in restaurant and then worked as chef instructor at a German culinary school, where he was also Executive Chef of the school’s dining facilities. Reinhold is the author of two cookbooks, Die Kalte Küche (2005) and So sollt Ihr kochen. Die Naturküche im Sinne Sebastian Kneipps, as well as a series of food service textbooks, among them Der junge Koch/Die junge Köchin, that are widely used by German apprentices in culinary arts, dining room service and hotel management. He also developed specialized kitchen utensils for the Rösle Company.

As a former member of the German Culinary Olympics team (1976-1980), Reinhold took special pride in organizing the greatest culinary competition, the 2004 Internationale Kochausstellung also known as Culinary Olympics, which is held every four years in Germany under the auspices of WACS. His leadership in the food service industry has been acknowledged internationally: Reinhold is a recipient of the Golden Toque Award, as well as the President’s Medal of the American Culinary Federation and an honorary member of the American Academy of Chefs, the Japanese Cooks’ Association, and the Israeli Chefs’ Association.

Fritz Sonnenschmidt is a Certified Master Chef, author/editor of The Professional Art of Garde Manger, Dining with Sherlock Holmes, The American Harvest, and Tastes and Tales of a Chef: Stories and Recipes, as well as a television personality, appearing on PBS in six seasons of Cook Secrets of the CIA and five seasons of Grilling Maestros. His lectures and cooking demonstrations are immensely popular, especially on kosher food, garde manger and charcuterie. Fritz started his culinary career with an apprenticeship in Munich, Germany, which lead to extensive international work experiences in hotel and club kitchens, including that of Executive Chef at the Sheraton Hotel in New York City. He joined the faculty of The Culinary Institute of America from which he retired as Culinary Dean in 2002. He is the past Chairman of the American Academy of Chefs (AAC), the honor society of the American Culinary Federation. Fritz is a repeated gold medalist at the Culinary Olympics and international culinary competitions, including the Jerusalem Gold Medal for Culinary Excellence for kosher food and the Geneva Gold Medal for cold food display. Fritz is one of the most recognized chefs among his peers and was recently voted into the AAC Hall of Fame.