IN THE NEWS
Chef Services Group is privileged to have the opportunity to work with some of this country's most progressive food companies and restaurant chains. On this page we will share with you some of the excitement of our most recent and ongoing projects. We are thrilled to be involved with a diverse range of companies that highlight our unique services.
CSG Goes International!
Chef Services Group is proud to announce their first international project! Matrices Catering Company, LLC (MCC) has retained CSG to assist in menu and recipe development for their new restaurant concept, Muchos. The restaurant concept, based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, is currently in one location with plans to open a second in April 2008. Chef Services welcomes this opportunity with open arms and we are all looking forward to a fruitful, ongoing relationship with MCC!
CSG Featured in Food Product Design
Chef Walter teamed up with Maureen Akins of TIC Gums to write an article for the December 2007 issue of Food Product Design, focusing on an in-depth look at the types and applications of icings and frostings.
Download the December 2007 article 
CSG Develops Partnership with American Pride Seafoods
Chef Services has teamed up with American Pride Seafood (www.friornor.com) to support national account sales and develop innovative value-added product offerings for their seafood line.
CSG featured in Culinology Magazine
Chef Services Group's 'Brie-Stuffed Turkey Burgers' were featured in Recipe Redux in the June 2007 Issue of Culinology.
Download the June 2007 article
CSG Published in Food Product Design Magazine
Chef Services Group was featured in the November 2006 Issue of Food Product Design magazine.
Download the November 2006 article
CSG Gets Involved with New Restaurant projects
CSG has been involved in the opening of two new restaurant/entertainment complexes. The Coliseum (www.coliseumfun.com), which opened in March 2007 in Harrisburg, PA, and The Mine Shaft, located in Houghton, MI, which is scheduled to open in March of 2008. These facilities have a vision of providing the public a casual atmosphere with entertainment for the whole family, as well as a Superior dining outlet. They are both looking to expand their outlets into multi-unit chains, also. CSG has been critical in menu development, product procurement, vendor relations, food styling/photography, manual writing and policy/procedure implementations in these new concepts, and is looking forward to our continued relationship growth with these customers.
Blodgett Recruits CSG for Corporate Chef Training Program
Blodgett, the national manufacturer of commercial ovens and other kitchen equipment, turned to CSG to assist in their Blodgett Combi Oven Demos. Blodgett trained our chefs to showcase the Blodgett Combi Oven, an innovative oven which combines steaming and convection technology to avail superior food products. CSG is excited we get more involved in demos and customer relations with Blodgett, and as this relationship continues to grow.
CSG adds Nutritional Analysis & Food Labeling
CSG's growing list of services includes nutritional anylysis and food labeling using database analysis.
Find out more here.
CSG Published in one of the Industry's Leading Technical Magazines
For the third year, CSG has been featured in Culinology as a key contributor to the Recipe Redux section. This special section is designed to take the reader through the process that the formulator follows from taking a Gold Standard recipe to the plant manufacturing process and how the conversion of that recipe takes place. The feature includes what ingredients and functional foods get converted, added to, or changed over from the Gold Standard to the formula. The result is a plant-ready and manufacturable product ready for consumption for in marketplaces ranging from restaurant chain level to supermarket retail.
The 2006 issue included Seafood Jambalaya and Jasmine-Honey Tea with a High-Fiber, Low-Fat Granola Fruit Bar and Raspberry Foam. This issue took a slightly different perspective, as in addition to converting the recipe to a plant-ready formula, CSG made these classic fat and calorie laden recipes into “Better for You” recipes.
Download the June 2006 article
The two recipes featured in the November 2004 issue were a Chili-Spiced Zucchini, Pepper and Cilantro Soup and a Smoked Pork Chop with Apple, Nut and Mushroom Stuffing. The March 2005 issue contained features titled The Way to Frappe and The Proof is in the Bread Pudding discussing thier applications at restaurant level.
Download Individually:
Chili-Spiced Zucchini, Pepper and Cilantro Soup
Smoked Pork Chop with Apple, Nut and Mushroom Stuffing
The Way to Frappe
The Proof is in the Bread Pudding
CSG Innovates for the American Egg Board
The American Egg Board is on a mission to promote eggs in innovative ethnic dishes and they engaged CSG to assited them. The goal was to demonstrate the diversity of eggs to Food Product Design magazine's audience of product developers & manufacturers. CSG got to work targeting Asian and Latin cuisine. One of the featured recipes was for a savory flan, moving away from the traditional flan dessert and bringing it to the center of the plate. This Gold Standard recipe for a Portabello, Spinach, & Queso Fresco Flan is truly an original. The finishing touches were added as the flan was topped with a Roasted Red Pepper Sauce featuring lime juice, cilantro, and chipotle chiles. CSG certainly exhibited the creativity of eggs.
Check out some of the images in our Food Styling Gallery
CSG Develops a Partnership with Great Harvest
CSG was hired by Great Harvest, located in Dillon, Montana, in late June. The goal was to implement a sandwich menu in addition to their baked goods offerings in two locations. Ultimately, this new menu will expand coast-to-coast to all the Great Harvest locations.
The project involves development of sandwich menu that meets market trends for bakery cafes that include lunch options. CSG generated a complete menu, plus an operational manual which includes all facets of training, inventory, equipment, design, layout, customer through-put, and more. Some menu items include creative choices such as the California Cobb sandwich, and White Chocolate Peanut Butter.
CSG Continues at the National Restaurant Association show in Chicago
Since 2003, CSG has provided superior culinary services to major industry leaders at the National Restaurant Show in Chicago. Mazzetta Seafood Company, an international importer of frozen value-added seafood, hired CSG to provide show attendees over ten thousand samples of seafood & CSG culinary delights. CSG Research Chef Leah Sarris took charge of developing the hit menu of items shown as well as staying on top of VIP luncheons for Mazzetta’s top clients.
In addition to the work done with Mazetta, CSG's Research Chef Russ Zito has continued his relationships with Robot Coupe USA, rendering expert culinary exhibitions to attendees at the show. Chef Zito was responsible for demonstrations assisting in the sales and promotion of the new R2 dicing, power mixers, stick mixers, blixers, and the CL50 line of Robot Coupe commercial food processing machines.