Sam Brod, Executive Chef, The Landings Golf & Athletic Club
At the 2025 Chef to Chef Conference, March 23-25 in Baltimore, Sam Brod, CEC, Executive Chef of The Landings Golf & Athletic Club, and Robert Corle Jr., CEC, CCE, Chef Instructor at Lebanon County Career and Technology Center (LCCTC), will present a comprehensive session on building impactful apprenticeship programs.
Brod will share his experience establishing an ACF-accredited 3,000-hour apprenticeship at The Landings, offering insights into creating training opportunities that meet the demands of today’s club kitchens. Corle will provide an in-depth look at the foundational steps for launching a program, including navigating partnerships with local and state agencies, securing grants, and aligning with ACF standards. Attendees will leave with actionable strategies for developing young talent, retaining staff, and creating a program tailored to their club or resort’s unique needs.
Club + Resort Chef (C+RC): What will attendees walk away having learned from your presentation?
Sam Brod (SB): Training is paramount. I am sure all the chefs and managers in attendance train their staff daily. I want to show how we train our young and upcoming cooks at The Landings. While culinary training is important it is equally important to provide pathways for young cooks to have a formal education. Currently, many of those pathways to higher education are not economical for everyone.
Attendees will receive a brief overview of American Apprenticeship history, how to start a certified apprenticeship, how to partner with a local or regional college who will accept apprenticeship hours toward gaining an associate’s degree, and ideas how to fund the program so students/apprentices can gain a certification and an AOS degree almost debt-free. My goal is to show how starting our apprenticeship program is beginning to positively reshape our culture across the property. To effectively train and educate the apprentices, it takes all my culinary team’s involvement. It has bolstered and added a higher level of professionalism amongst my staff.
C+RC: Why is your particular presentation topic important or meaningful?
SB: Over the last many years, I have personally experienced a decline in staffing levels in general. Additionally, the quality of work ethic IMO has also declined. Many culinary schools I recruited from, both regionally and nationally have closed; it has left a real void in the industry. Apprenticeship is one of the best ways to progress and keep up with industry demand. I enjoy mentorship and education; it is one of the most fulfilling parts of my job. I would not be where I am today without great mentors and educators that helped shape who I am. I want to pay it forward and do the same for the next generation of young chefs.
C+RC: Why are events like Chef to Chef important to this industry and to club chefs in particular?
SB: Events like C2C are important because they bring industry professionals together. Specifically, C2C fosters a non-judgmental arena where professional chefs collaborate and take away new ideas that can be implemented at their club or resort. C2C, in my opinion, focuses on getting chefs to talk and collaborate. While this may sound basic, it is extremely important to move this sector of hospitality in the right direction. Being united and informed as chefs is the best way to effect positive change. C2C is the conduit that allows this to happen.
C+RC: What about Chef to Chef are you most looking forward to?
SB: Chef to Chef is a time when you get to reconnect with old friends and colleagues, learn new cooking and managerial techniques, and it’s also a time when you get to hear about other chefs struggles on a day-to-day basis and how they are or have overcome them. I look forward most of all to seeing old friends and making new ones. I have met several chefs at C2C over the years who have become good friends. These are professionals who I can count on for advice or to just lend an ear.
