Chef Dale Miller Talks About His Career And Plans For The Future

Chef Dale Miller, who currently lives in Clifton Park, New York grew up in Tribes Hill, Amsterdam. In 1985 he relocated to the Capital District after being offered a job as executive sous chef by Albany Marriott on Wolf Road. Miller, one of 68 Certified Master Chefs in the United States, is currently the president of Master Chef Consulting Group LLC. In a recent interview with the Troy Record, Miller was asked when he earned the coveted Certified Master Chef distinction. He answered that it happened 18 years ago, back in April 1996. Miller is also Global Master Chef certified by the World Association of Chefs; there are only 800 of these in the world right now. He also belongs to the American Academy of Chefs, which he describes as “a sort of honor society of the ACF”.

Next he was asked to discuss his training and education and his favorite recipes. He said that he started his own catering and baking business from his parent’s kitchen when he was just 12 years old; from the age of 15 he worked in a variety of local restaurants.

He opened his first restaurant, Stone Ends, in 1986 when he was 26; he passed the CMC test in the same year.

A recipe he is particularly fond of is pan roaster Maple Leaf Farms’ duck breast served with brandied apricot sauce.

In February this year Miller launched a chef consulting website to provide consulting services to chefs and other clients. Until now he has worked with a diverse array of clients, including Twin Technologies, Campbell’s Soup, Hillshire Farms, Red Lobster, Oliver Garden, Cabot Cheese and Maple Leaf Farms.

When asked how he planned to grow his business over the next five years, Miller responded by saying that, depending on the opportunities that come up, he will provide innovative culinary consulting services to some of the top restaurants in the region, as well as corporations, food service manufacturers and chains. In this regard he expects his website to play a major role, since it allows him to interact with clients across the world.

Williams Chefs Win Silver Medal In Skidmore Culinary Competition

In January four chefs from Williams College’s dining service took part in and won a silver medal in a culinary contest at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York. This was the third year the competition, which is sanctioned by the American Culinary Federation, took place. The contest brought in restaurants and college campuses from all over the northeast, including the University of New Hampshire, Cornell University and, of course, Skidmore College.  The two-day event challenged chefs to come up with an original and appetizing yet healthy menu from a surprise basket of ingredients that was only revealed to participants an hour before they had to submit their menu. 

Jerry Byers was Williams College’s team leader. He is also the associate operations manager for the Paresky Student Center and said: “It was just just like an Iron Chef competition.” He was, of course, referring to the innovative Japanese TV show that spawned more than a dozen copycats in the United States. Williams’ quartet was rounded out by Jim Butler, Michael Militello and Miguel Gutierrez.

Among the dishes they prepared for the contest were king crab with a root vegetable bisque; crisp fried leaves of Brussels sprout with sautéed mushrooms and micro greens; and seared duck served with pear, cranberry gastrique and blood orange gastrique. The Williams team has taken part in the Skidmore competition each year since its launch three years ago and went home with bronze medals last year and the year before. The executive chef at Williams, Mark Thompson, said: “What we do every year is we send out an email in October, and I like to get as many employees interested in it as possible. The true culinary experts come right to the top – the people who are really interested in food.”

Byers sounded very happy to have done so well in what he described as, “a very nerve-wracking” experience, which begins when the mystery basket of ingredients is revealed. Teams are then given an hour to come up with their menu, incorporating every item in the surprise basket, anything they can get their hands on from Skidmore’s pantry, and outside items they might choose to add to the mix. The next day they had to prepare the actual dishes on the menu, which meant getting up at 1am.

Sofitel New York Appoints New Manager

The new hotel manager of the prestigious Sofitel in New York is Marc Pichot-Moise. He brings 17 years of experience in international hospitality management to the midtown-based luxury hotel. Balendra Nagesvaran, the group’s area general manager, said: “Marc is an excellent hotelier whose years of training in classic French hospitality make him ideally suited to manage the Sofitel New York.” Nagesvaran added that Sofitel was very pleased to welcome Pichot-Moise to the team and that it trusted he would be a great ambassador for the brand.

Before he moved to New York two months ago, Pichot-Moise lived in Edinburgh, Scotland for six years. His most recent position was that of general manager at Novotel Edinburgh Centre; before that he was the general manager at the Mercure Edinburgh Point Hotel. He also worked at the managerial level at Holiday Inn Thoiry Geneva Airport, Novotel Nottingham, Sofitel Minneapolis and the Lux Island Resort on Reunion.

Pichot-Moise launched his varied career as food and beverage manager at Mercure Courchevel in 1996. After that he became the food and beverage manager at Grand Hotel Mercure Country Club.

Pichot-Moise studied at the well-known Lycée Hotelier de Chamalieres. Throughout his career he has been active in industry and community organizations. During recent years he was involved in the French Film Festival, the Edinburgh Hospitality Association, East Lothian Hospitality & Tourism Academy and the French Edinburgh Association. He also formed part of Novotel UK’s food and beverage steering group.

Sofitel New York opened its doors to the public 14 years ago in 2000. It is a fashionable midtown establishment with a decidedly French ambiance in its refined artwork, modern décor, cosmopolitan service and brasserie cuisine. The hotel boasts 398 luxurious guest rooms, of which 52 are suites. It also offers function space for small and medium events and Gaby, a spectacular brasserie with a French executive chef whose accolades include winning the Chopped contest on the Food Network.

The hotel is perfectly situated at 45 West 44^th Street, providing easy access to the Times Square theater district and Fifth Avenue.

If such a career sounds too glamorous to be true, this is certainly not the case; prospective students do not have to travel to France to get an excellent degree in this field either. A local hospitality management qualification could be the start to an exciting and lucrative career in this industry.