Everything starts with a story.
Sometimes it’s a chef taking a risk. Sometimes it’s a kitchen at a crossroads. Sometimes it’s a team rewriting what success looks like inside a club.
Our work is about finding those stories, telling them well, and connecting chefs with ideas, examples, and each other. We do this not just to celebrate where the industry is, but to nudge it forward.
When we gathered for the Chef to Chef Conference in March in Baltimore, the goal was simple: Create the space for meaningful conversations and real opportunities. Chefs showed up ready to trade ideas from the stage to the club tours to the late-night debates. Every session, speaker, and agenda item was chosen with one question in mind: Will this inspire and inform chefs and culinary leaders?
That spirit runs through everything we do.
It drives PlateCraft, a two-day workshop at Cullasaja Club where chefs work side by side to sharpen their craft. When we shared the 2024 PlateCraft recap video earlier this month and invited chefs to reach out if they were interested in the next one, the response was immediate. Within days, 15 of 25 seats were claimed, with some of the country’s best clubs reserving multiple spots.
The next PlateCraft will return to Cullasaja Club on November 3–5, 2025. If you would like to reserve your seat, please email me at [email protected].
That same spirit shaped All Ships Rise, our award-winning documentary centered on Executive Chef Scott Craig, whose story shows what true leadership and mentorship look like inside a club kitchen.
It is the reason behind 40 Under 40, where rising talent gets the recognition it deserves.
It inspired the launch of the Club + Resort Chef Association Certification Program, built to recognize chefs already leading the work that drives clubs forward.
As Shayne Taylor, CCCD, Director of Culinary at Greensboro Country Club, said after earning his certification last month:
“Throughout my career, Club + Resort Chef has consistently taken the lead in providing valuable information and insight into our specific sector of culinary arts. When I saw a handful of chefs I know and admire being recognized as CCCDs, I was immediately interested. Only after reviewing the criteria did I realize this isn’t an ordinary certification—but rather a cross-section of different achievements that reflects what it takes to succeed in the club and resort world.”
Taylor’s story is just one example. Every time a chef sees themselves in a story we tell, every time an idea sparks a change in a kitchen, trust grows a little stronger. That trust matters more than ever. It is what steadies us as everything else keeps moving.
The club and resort industry will continue to change. The challenges and opportunities chefs face will evolve. We will keep telling the stories that move chefs forward and strengthen the future of club and resort culinary operations.
