2007 Ivy Awards Honor Best of the Best

Restaurants and Institutions honored its six 2007 Ivy Awards winners during a gala at which The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) announced a scholarship program.

By Christine Lafave, Associate Editor -- Restaurants & Institutions, 5/23/2007

This year’s six winners were joined by past honorees, The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) President Dr. Tim Ryan and many other foodservice industry luminaries at Chicago’s Field Museum Sunday night for the presentation of Restaurants & Institutions magazine’s 2007 Ivy Awards.

The Ivy Awards, now in their 37th year, recognize outstanding achievement by commercial and noncommercial foodservice operations. Recipients are voted on by R&I readers, who select from among operations nominated by past Ivy honorees, who comprise the Ivy Society. This year’s Ivy Award winners are: Blue Ginger of Wellesley, Mass.; Bowdoin College of Brunswick, Maine; Jack’s Oyster House of Albany, N.Y.; The Sea Grill of New York City; University of California at Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif.; and the U.S. Olympic Training Center of Colorado Springs, Colo.

R&I Editorial Director and Editor-in-Chief Patricia Dailey emceed the event, which was sponsored by Basic American Foods, the CIA and Mountain Valley Spring Water.

“We are so pleased to honor the excellence of the people who work so hard every day,” Dailey said. She noted the industry’s evolution, particularly with regard to noncommercial operations, since 1971, the first year the Ivys were presented. “Colleges and universities are just as excellent” today as their commercial counterparts, she said.

In accepting her Ivy Award, Bowdoin Dining Services Director Mary Lou Kennedy said that the college’s foodservice staff draws energy and inspiration from students. Bowdoin—which also was rated No. 1 for Best Food in Princeton Review’s 2007 college rankings—holds a Down East Lobster Bake for students that features Maine lobster, fish chowder and corn on the cob each fall.

The bake is a favorite of returning students and an inviting introduction to campus dining for new students. “You know that institutional dining has come a long way when people come back to school to get their home cooked meals,” Kennedy said.

Terri Moreman, associate director of food and nutrition services for the U.S. Olympic Committee, said that she and her staff take pride in knowing that they play a role in helping the athletes they feed excel on the world stage. “We have a saying at the complex: ‘It’s not every four years, it’s every day,’ ” Moreman said. “Without good nutrition, there is no Olympic medal.”

In taking the stage to congratulate winners, the CIA’s Ryan noted the Latino community’s profound impact on the foodservice industry—from both a patron and an employment perspective. “We cannot do what we do without the Latino community,” Ryan said. He announced that $7 million of a recent $35 million gift to the CIA will help fund construction of a Center for Foods of the Americas in San Antonio, Texas. Additionally, $20 million of the gift, pledged by former Pace Foods CEO Kit Goldsbury, will be earmarked for scholarships. The gift is the largest ever made to a culinary institution.

The CIA developed and prepared the evening’s menu, which featured such diverse offerings as jumbo lump crab with tomatoes, scallions and hazelnut vinaigrette, roasted tenderloin of beef with Tillamook savory bread pudding, and toasted angel food cake with strawberry rhubarb soup. New Zealand Winegrowers provided wines for the event.