The 2026 Chef to Chef Conference kicked off this weekend at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs with a warm welcome and a look inside the resort’s culinary operation from Executive Chef Justin Miller and Vice President of Food & Beverage David Patterson, followed by the Taste of The Broadmoor, an immersive kickoff party.
This year’s agenda features expert-led sessions and live demonstrations that address the challenges club culinarians are navigating today, with insights on building stronger kitchens, strengthening systems, elevating flavors, shaping training programs, and creating meaningful member and guest experiences.
The Broadmoor’s scale, history, and culinary depth create an ideal backdrop for a program built by chefs for chefs. Attendees are immersed in conversations that matter to modern club and resort kitchens, spanning menu development, leadership, operations, culture, kitchen flow, and long-term career strategy.
For a select number of registrants, the 2026 event also includes rare, behind-the-scenes access to The Broadmoor’s culinary operation via a guided property tour, covering systems, scale, flow, and leadership in action.
Club + Resort Chef of the Year Culinary Competition
This year’s Club + Resort Chef of the Year Competition is unfolding over two days inside two custom-built kitchens designed exclusively for Chef to Chef by Southbend/Firex.
For 2026, the scope of the competition has been streamlined. Rather than preparing multiple courses, competitors will produce a single entrée. Organizers say the narrower focus allows chefs to concentrate on execution and technique while reducing the amount of product and equipment required to compete.
The competition format has also been updated to align more closely with the structure and expectations of established culinary competitions worldwide. Competitors will bring all ingredients, tools, smallwares, and equipment needed to execute their dish. Organizers say the change is intended to eliminate uncertainty and allow chefs to plan preparation and travel with clearly defined expectations well in advance of the event.
While competitors will supply their own materials, they will cook in a professionally designed commercial kitchen built specifically for the Club + Resort Chef of the Year Competition and provided by Southbend/Firex.
Cash prizes and recognition remain unchanged. The first-place finisher will receive a $4,000 cash prize and a feature in Club + Resort Chef. The runner-up will receive a $1,000 cash prize.
On day one, Chris Smith, Executive Chef of Rolling Rock Club (Ligonier, Pa.) and Stephen Valenti, Executive Chef of Bloomfield Hills Country Club (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) competed head to head. Later today, Michael Lamping, CEC, Executive Chef, Dallas Athletic Club (Dallas, Texas), and Jacob Picking, CEC, Executive Chef, Blue Hills Country Club (Kansas City, Mo.), are taking the stage.
Attendees are able to engage with peers and sponsors while watching the action up close, observing technique, timing, and presentation in real time. The winning chef will be announced at the reception at the conclusion of Chef to Chef, capping an interactive, high-energy experience that highlights skill, execution, and teamwork.
Sessions + Demos
In Monday’s first session, Joseph Leonardi, CMC, AAC, Assistant General Manager of St. Andrews Country Club, explored how a background in culinary management provides the tools to lead effectively across all facets of club operations.
Drawing on decades of developing chefs prepared to lead at the highest level, Leonardi reflected on how trust is built, earned, and sustained within strong teams, showing how culinary thinking, mentorship, and long-term perspective shape culture, standards, and direction. This session set the tone for the conference with a focus on growth, stewardship, and the enduring influence of the craft.
“Success is just not the outcome; it is the process of becoming who you need to be to reach your goals,” said Leonardi.
In a live cooking demonstration with members of his team, Andrew Haapala, Executive Chef of The Country Club of Virginia, showcased how the chef’s table can serve as both a creative outlet and a tool for building stronger relationships with members and guests.
Through thoughtful menu design, interactive presentation, and intentional storytelling, he explored how to turn the chef’s table into a platform for connection and collaboration. Attendees saw firsthand how each dish reflects a balance of craft and communication, blending technique with hospitality to create moments that resonate beyond the meal itself.
“This table is my expression of food,” Haapala said about chef’s tables.
Led by Corey Siegel, a five-time Culinary Olympic gold medalist, the next live culinary demo explored how dishes are built with flavor as the foundation. The session dove into techniques for developing deeper and more complex flavors through fermentation, thoughtful layering, and innovative ingredient combinations, with clear explanations of why each choice matters. Attendees learned how flavors evolve over time, how to recognize when they plateau, and how to push them further with intention. The session also addressed how to apply a flavor-first mindset across different menus and service styles, offering practical insight to create bold, balanced, and memorable food in any kitchen.
“Flavor echoing is taking simple ingredients and transforming them in a way that someone leaves saying, ‘that was the best carrot I ever had,'” said Siegel.
As is tradition, we took a moment to recognize the chefs who have made Chef to Chef a consistent part of their professional journey. This brief presentation honored those marking five and 10 years of attendance and thanked them for the role they play in shaping the conversation and community that defines the conference.
In his session, Brian Wallace, Executive Sous Chef of Roaring Fork Club, explored the philosophy of terroir-driven, full-product utilization through a plant-based lens. Centered on the ingredients of the Rocky Mountains, it highlighted how chefs can transform soups and salads into refined expressions of place while repurposing byproducts for creative presentation. The discussion also touched on the culinary, sustainability and financial benefits of building direct relationships with local farmers to strengthen both menus and margins.
“When you talk about perfect ingredients from local farms, it’s imperative that you let them be themselves,” Wallace said. “My job every day is to let these beautiful ingredients do their thing. Someone worked really hard to grow them. Don’t ruin them.”
Zeb Hartline, Director of Culinary Operations at Reynolds Lake Oconee, broke down what the first year in a new culinary leadership role actually looks like. He outlined the checkpoints that shape a strong start—the 30/60/90 plan, the one-year arc, and the signals that reveal where to focus early. Attendees received clear guidance on spotting low-hanging fruit, boosting team morale, identifying real needle-movers, and assembling the right people around you.
“Leadership is about awareness,” said Hartline. “It’s about observing instead of directing. Asking the questions instead of giving the answers. No one is judging your talent. They are judging your presence. They’re asking, ‘Are we stronger because you’re here?’”
Successful clubs are built on strong relationships, and few are more critical than the partnership between the Executive Chef and the General Manager. Yet many chefs feel disconnected from decision-making, misunderstood by leadership, or unsupported in the resources needed to run a high-performing department. In this candid and interactive session, Farmington Country Club’s General Manager, Joe Krenn, CCM, CCE, and Executive Chef, Michael Matarazzo, CEC, who have worked side-by-side at Farmington for more than a decade, shared the real story behind their long-standing collaboration.
Through honest conversation, practical examples, and unfiltered “real talk,” they explored how trust was built, how challenges were navigated, and how mutual respect transformed their working relationship into a driver of growth, stability, and member satisfaction.
“Have each other’s back,” said Krenn. “Are we there to make sure we look good, or to make sure the other person is supported?”
Pre-Conference Events + Sponsors
Pre-conference events included a full-day club crawl, exploring three of the Denver area’s most prestigious and impressive club culinary operations.
In addition, six pre-conference workshops designed to deliver practical insights and additional Continuing Education Hours (CEH). From next-generation cooking technology and ventless solutions to butchery demonstrations and leadership development, these interactive sessions offer chefs actionable ideas they can take straight back to their clubs.
Our Title Sponsor, Southbendnc and Firex helped make one of the centerpieces of the conference possible by building the stunning competition kitchens for the Club + Resort Chef of the Year competition.
Our Diamond Sponsors include American Lamb Board, Cres Cor, DZA Associates, KOPPLIN KUEBLER & WALLACE, and UNOX Inc. Each of these partners led a preconference workshop, adding hours of education before the conference even officially begins.
Our Gold Sponsors include Carpigiani Group, Clubessential, Corby Hall Inc., C&T Design and Equipment Co., Eastern Tabletop Manufacturing, Gather Grills, Marra Forni, Newchef Fashion, Stavely Woodworks, and Steelite International.
We are also proud to have Club Source support the Denver Club Crawl and DeLozier Group supporting the launch of the Club + Resort Chef Hall of Fame.
These companies are investing their time and resources in the chefs shaping club and resort culinary programs. They recognize the importance of building relationships with decision makers and want to be part of the conversations, idea sharing, and troubleshooting that happen when chefs get together to run their kitchens better.
Thank you to every company that chose to be part of Chef to Chef 2026.
