United States Personal Chef Association 2008 Conference
August 1 - 4
JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort - Tucson, AZ
JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort - Tucson, AZ
Guest Speakers
Denise Vivaldo
A seasoned food professional with 20 years of experience, Denise Vivaldo has catered more than 10,000 parties and has cooked for such guests as George H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Prince Charles, Bette Midler, Suzanne Somers, Merv Griffin, Cher, Aaron Spelling, Sly Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Maria Shriver. She began her culinary training at the Ritz Escoffier and La Varenne in Paris, and then graduated Chef de Cuisine from the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco.
In 1988, Denise founded Food Fanatics, a catering, recipe-development, and food-styling firm based in Los Angeles, California. Since that time, she has catered for such events as the Academy Awards Governor’s Ball, Sunset Magazine’s Taste of Sunset, and Hollywood wrap parties. She has also catered and styled food for countless local and nationally syndicated television shows such as The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, NapaStyle with Michael Chiarello, and Inside Dish with Rachael Ray.
Denise is also the author of How to Start a Home-Based Catering Business, which has sold more than 125,000 copies. She teaches catering classes across the country and lives with her husband in Los Angeles.
Website: www.foodfanatics.com
LaughingStock Comedy Company
As personal chefs we are accustomed to roasting chickens, pork loins and vegetables. Now get ready to be “roasted” as personal chefs!!!!
LaughingStock Comedy Company is the funniest company in business today. They are a group of creative entertainers who spontaneously create fun and funny scenes based on the work lives of the audience. Their success is based on their ability to roast the job without roasting the person. For almost 20 years, members of LaughingStock have been sending up America's corporate culture at banquets, association meetings, customer fetes, trade shows and other special events. They have created comedy mayhem live on stage, on audio and video industrials, on CDs and on-line.
LaughingStock's success is a result of extensive background research into every single audience for whom they perform combined with quick-witted comedians taking and using audience suggestions during the performances. Their experienced actor/comedians are well schooled in improvisational comedy techniques. LaughingStock has performed well over 1000 shows for corporate and association special events in the US, Canada and Mexico. Business sectors have included financial and insurance, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, technology and manufacturing, transportation and communications, utilities and government and many, many more. LaughingStock's comedians come from a variety of backgrounds and educations and have one important thing in common: they all think making people laugh is the best job in the whole world. Read about them in the Tucson Weekly.
Iron Chef Competition
Have you ever watched the Food Network's "Iron Chef" and thought, "I could do that"?
Sunday’s luncheon will feature the first-ever USPCA Iron Chef competition. Two teams will be selected from conference attendees by random drawing of willing participants. Each team will be given a set amount of time to make any dish they want to serve the judges. The secret ingredient will be revealed at the luncheon.
At the end of the competition, only one team's cuisine will reign supreme! Which team will it be? Be on hand for the crowning of the first USPCA Iron Chef!!!
Entry details will be available spring 2008.