Love of Food Innovation Challenge

Love of Food challenge 2022 winner Claudia Saldana-Rose

Claudia Saldana-Rose
Vegan Ceviche

Peruvian ceviche is a traditional dish widely eaten in Peru. The method of preparing it is different to that of ceviche in other location, using lime, fish, sweet potatoes and other foods. The classic Peruvian ceviche is composed of chunks of raw fish, marinated in freshly squeezed key lime juice, with sliced onions, chili peppers, salt and pepper. Corvina or cebo (sea bass) was the fish traditionally used. The mixture was traditionally marinated for several hours and served at room temperature, with chunks of corn-on-the-cob, and slices of cooked sweet potato.

Regional or contemporary variations include garlic, fish bone broth, minced Peruvian ají limo, or the Andean chili rocoto, toasted corn or cancha (corn nut) and yuyo (seaweed). The modern version of Peruvian ceviche, which is similar to the method used in making Japanese sashimi, consists of fish marinated for a few minutes and served promptly. It was developed in the 1970s by Peruvian Japanese chefs including Dario Matsufuji and Humberto Sato. Many Peruvian cevicherías serve a small glass of the marinade (as an appetizer) along with the fish, which is called leche de tigre or leche de pantera.

a unique competition
that aims to connect
and inspire our chefs
who understand the
power of food

An invitation
from S.Pellegrino
& Acqua Panna

Always supporting the culinary
industry and standing by its values.

San Pellegrino and Aqua Panna bottles from Nestle Waters America

A african american chefs representing the contest target

Love of food

Innovation Challenge

is for every innovative chef in Sodexo, with the talent and vision to create appealing and delicious dishes that incorporate sustainability and well-being.

See Guidelines

How it works?

Love of Food Innovation Challenge will initiate with an invitation to participate by submitting an original recipe, find details below.

Meet the 3 finalists!

See finalists

April 1st to May 6th

Submissions open!

Participants will start to submit their recipes, until May 1st.

See Guidelines
May

Evaluations &
finalists selection

An internal committee will evaluate and vote on 3 finalists.
May

Three finalists
announced!

Finalists will then build upon their initial submissions for a final round.
JUNE

Final round &
judging

A judging committee will vote and choose one winner during the final's live event.
JUNE

Winner selection!

The winner will enjoy and exciting trip to New York City!

Meet the judges

Phase I

See bio

Richard Arakelian

Vice President, Culinary NorAM Food Platform.

After graduating from The Culinary Institute of America, Rich began his career working at restaurants in Southern California, and on a private luxury yacht. He returned to his east coast roots with positions at Delmonico’s and private clubs in New York City.

Rich entered the corporate dining world as Executive Chef, serving some of New York’s prestigious law firms, financial institutions, and top corporate headquarters. He went on to become Regional Executive Chef and Corporate Executive Chef for Sodexo’s Corporate Services, leading marketing and culinary development and taking on field deployment. Rich then became the Global Vice President of Service Development for the Corporate Services segment until his current role as Vice President of Culinary and Service Development for Sodexo North America.
See bio

Bryan K. Chichester

Director of Culinary & Deployment Operational Excellence, Healthcare.

As Healthcare’s head of culinary and deployment, Bryan has spent over 30 years working in various culinary and leadership positions in the industry. Bryan served 27 years in the United States Air Force in multiple food service and support services leadership roles throughout his military career, retiring in 2017. Bryan’s key focus areas are developing patient dining menus, providing culinary training and development, opening support for new hospital partnerships, and providing continuous operational support for the entire segment. Bryan is very proud to lead culinary and deployment for the largest Sodexo Segment and continues to help drive culinary innovation and excellence.
See bio

John Csukor

Director II, Head of Culinary - NorAm Entegra Performance Kitchen.

John has lived the space between creating delicious food and developing cutting-edge marketing strategies for small businesses and global conglomerates for over 35 years.

Chef has influenced the breakfast, lunch and evening meals of millions of people around the world through product development, operational and marketing leadership. While classically trained at Johnson and Wales University, culinary training extends beyond to The Culinary Institute of America and the United States Marine Corps School of Food Service.

Having owned a successful international marketing agency for 13 years, John brings a unique combination of strategic marketing experience, food service business acumen and industrial food product development to the Entegra team.

Chef created and heads the culinary strategy at the EPK, Entegra Performance Kitchen in Ashland VA for North America.
See bio

Russell F. DeCesare

Vice President, Offer Implementation
Corporate Services

As Vice President, Offer Implementation, Russell is responsible for driving all culinary and retail initiatives, segment innovations, training, product specifications and operation excellence standards for the Corporate Services brand portfolio.

A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY, Russell earned his degree in Culinary Arts and received a “Certified Executive Chef” certification from the American Culinary Federation. Russell received Sodexo’s “Robert Wilson” Chef/Culinarian of the Year award in recognition for his outstanding culinary leadership as a contributor to “Improving the Quality of Life” for our clients and developing our people.

Russell began his career with Sodexo in 1992 as a Sous Chef at Morgan Stanley EDR in New York City. Since that time, he has held numerous culinary positions including, District Executive Chef, Area Executive Chef, and Director of Culinary Services, National Accounts, before assuming his current position.
See bio

Jennifer DiFrancesco

Director of Culinary Innovation, Universities

Jenn attended the Niagara Falls Culinary Institute for Culinary Arts. She owes her love of Culinary to her Grandmother who had her cooking in her kitchen since she could walk.

Jenn has over 20 years of managing culinary teams primarily in the college and university sectors. Before joining Sodexo, Jenn held Management positions at Wegmans Food Markets; The University at Buffalo; Canisius College and Buffalo State College. Most recently she held the position of Culinary Program Manager at the Humane Society of the United States. She has worked with the top 50 food service companies on incorporating plant based and sustainable menus to align with their business model.
See bio

Lisa M. Feldman

Director of Recipe Management Sodexo Culinary Solutions Team.

As the Director of Recipe Management, Lisa currently oversees Culinary Systems for Sodexo North America and is responsible for Sustainable Eating Positioning for the NORAM Culinary Offer. Her team manages recipe data, menu architecture, and nutrition services, as well as assists with ingredient selection and culinary development, for all of Sodexo’s market segments.

A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Lisa has over 30 years of experience in all facets of food service management. As a Certified Research Chef, she specializes in product and concept development. She is also the Co-Chair of CIA’s Healthy Kids Collaborative, a member of CIA’s Healthy Menus Research & Development Collaborative, a member of the Food Lab at Google, and a founding board member of Food for Climate League, a a women-led 501(c)3 nonprofit research and communications collaborative.

Final Round

See bio

Gerry Garvin

Acclaimed Chef, Cookbook Author, Television Host, James Beard Nominee, and Philanthropist.

Chef G. Garvin started his culinary career at the age of 13 in Atlanta, Georgia. He has an admirable trajectory working in the best kitchens, including the Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons, and long-standing restaurant groups in Los Angeles and Atlanta. Early in his career, he was chosen to open the Ritz Carlton-Rancho Mirage in Palm Springs, California. Chef Garvin later returned to Los Angeles with Keyshawn Johnson to open Reign Restaurant and ventured into a successful catering and events company - The Cuisine Group.

G. Garvin is now seen as a judge on Guy's Grocery Games and Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives alongside Guy Fieri. He also serves as Chief Culinary Advisor for SodexoMAGIC. G. Garvin "hopes to aid in breaking down the diversity barriers within not only the cooking industry, but in society as a whole where chefs of color are often categorized more often by race than profession."
See bio

Steven Greene

Executive Chef & Food and Beverage Director

Voted a semifinalist for the Best Chef in the Southeast by the James Beard Foundation in 2016, 2017, 2019, and 2020 Chef Steven Greene's tenure with The Umstead Hotel and Spa began in 2009 as chef de cuisine, where Greene guided Herons to its first Forbes Five-Star rating. Greene took over Herons in 2014 and oversees all food and beverage operations as executive chef. His passion for using ingredients and products from the rich Piedmont region drive beautifully refined culinary experiences and is evident daily in The Umstead's award-winning dining program.
See bio

Stuart Winters

CEO US Healthcare Sodexo

Stuart Winters is CEO of Healthcare for Sodexo in the U.S. He was appointed in September 2021 to lead Sodexo’s growing business to deliver patient nutrition, culinary services, infection prevention, healthcare technology management and other essential services for Sodexo’s clients.

Previously, Stuart was CEO for Healthcare in the UK & Ireland (2018-2021) and the Asia Pacific (2015-2018) regions. In both of those roles, he expanded Sodexo’s expertise and brought innovative solutions to the market. Under his leadership in the UK & Ireland, he led the effort to make Sodexo the UK’s largest provider of Covid testing centers and grew the company’s Healthcare Technology Management expertise through acquisition.

Stuart joined Sodexo in 2005 in Bangkok, where he opened and ran several new countries for Sodexo, including Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Laos. He has a technical building services background in HVAC and Electrical and has worked for Honeywell and global organizations in the Oil and Gas industry before joining Sodexo.