One of the best parts of being in this industry is realizing that no matter how long you have been cooking or how many kitchens you have worked in, there is always something you can learn from another chef or culinarian.
The idea for this collaboration really started when my brother, Chef Vincent Capua, CCC, and I attended the Chef to Chef Conference at Baltimore Country Club. During the conference, we had the opportunity to watch several different club culinary teams come together to put on an incredible evening. Different chefs, different clubs, different styles—but everyone working together toward the same goal. Watching it all come together, we started talking: Why couldn’t we do something like this back home?
That conversation eventually turned into an opportunity to bring the culinary teams from Club Pelican Bay and Heritage Bay Golf & Country Club together for a local ACF meeting, where education and dinner are presented to 150 of our peers.
We wanted it to be more than just another meeting where everyone shows up, eats, listens, and heads home. We wanted our cooks and chefs involved. Members of both culinary teams worked side by side to create a variety of action-station food offerings throughout the evening. And that was really the best part.
Our teams were able to step outside their normal routines, work in a different kitchen and atmosphere, meet other cooks and chefs, exchange ideas, discuss techniques, and simply have some fun cooking together. Sometimes professional development doesn’t have to happen in a classroom. It can happen standing next to another cook at an action station, seeing how they approach something differently, asking a question, or making a new connection.
As chefs, we attend conferences, competitions, dinners, and other networking events throughout our careers. We understand how valuable those relationships can become. But we also have an opportunity—and a responsibility—to give our entire culinary teams those same experiences.
A young cook may not be attending a national conference yet, but they can spend an evening cooking beside another club’s sous chef. A sous chef can walk into another operation and see a different kitchen setup, piece of equipment, leadership style, or way of executing service. Someone might meet another culinarian who becomes a friend, mentor, future coworker, or simply someone they can call when they have a question. That’s how our industry gets stronger.
There is so much talent inside the club culinary community—right here in our own backyard. We should be opening our doors to one another more often. Imagine more local chef meetings where two or three club culinary teams collaborate, each bringing a few cooks and chefs into another kitchen to create something together.
It doesn’t have to be complicated. Cook some great food, share some knowledge, meet some new people, and have fun doing it.
For Vincent and me, being brothers and chefs made the evening even more meaningful. Our careers have taken us through different kitchens and experiences, but our shared passion for this profession has always given us something to talk about because we understand that staff knowledge and empowerment is everything. Being able to bring our teams together and help create that same sense of camaraderie for other culinarians was something special. Hopefully, this is just the beginning.
A huge thank you to Heritage Bay Golf & Country Club, Club Pelican Bay, our local ACF board, and all of the chefs, cooks, and staff who supported the idea and helped make the evening happen. Events like this only work when the clubs and leadership teams believe in developing their people and are willing to give them opportunities outside of their everyday responsibilities. The food was great, but the bigger win was watching two kitchens become one team for an evening.
If more of us continue to open our kitchens, share what we know, and give our staff opportunities to connect, learn, and cook alongside one another, everybody benefits—our cooks, our chefs, our clubs, and ultimately our profession.
Different clubs. Different kitchens. One goal.
