Rational is well-known for its live cooking at industry exhibitions – and at the NRA Show this week its corporate chef team was joined by Jordan Fried, a college junior, who competed in the annual Kitchen Innovation Challenge at Johnson & Wales University.
He joined Rational chefs at ‘R Bistro’, the pop-up restaurant that the company operated at Chicago’s McCormick place over the last four days.
Rational works closely with leading
culinary schools across the US to develop curriculum, train faculty and
introduce students to the latest cooking technology. The Johnson & Wales
University Kitchen Innovation Challenge is one of the many programs that
Rational supports.
“As a company of chefs for chefs we believe it’s important to equip and educate
tomorrow’s culinary leaders. Hands-on experience with the latest and smartest
cooking technology is a wonderful way to prepare future chefs for success,” said
Markus Glueck, executive vice president of Rational North America.
The JWU Providence campus hosted the annual Kitchen Innovation Challenge
earlier this year. Nearly 250 students in the college of culinary arts
participated in activities that required the use of the Rational
SelfCookingCenter combi oven and ConnectedCooking, a state-of-the-art
cloud-based networking solution for professional kitchens.
Students who correctly completed all the activities were
entered in a drawing to win the Industry Immersion Weekend Internship.
Fried joined the Rational Corporate Chef team days before the NRA Show to assist
with the preparations and helped cook dinner for 100 guests at Rational’s
Partner Summit. He then travelled with the team to Chicago.
“The JWU Kitchen Innovation Challenge is one example of how Rational works with its educational partners to develop meaningful experiences for students and faculty,” said Daniel Lessen, regional corporate chef and manager of educational partnerships for Rational USA.
