Culinary Innovation Challenge

A unique competition that aims to connect and inspire Sodexo and Entegra chefs who understand the power of food.

Culinary
Innovation
Challenge

This contest tells the stories of inventive and hardworking chefs who understand the power of food not only as a source of health and well-being but also as a key component of hospitality.

2022 finalist Claudia cooking at the life event

An invitation from Acqua Panna & S.Pellegrino

Always supporting the culinary industry and standing by its values.

How it works

We invite you to celebrate authentic and delicious global flavors by creating and presenting an innovative dish with personal meaning.

Submission
window opens!

Sodexo and Entegra participants will have five weeks to submit their recipe.

May 8th
Submission
window closes!

Participants must complete their submissions by this date in order to be elegible.

June 19th
Evaluation & selection
of top finalists

An internal committee will evaluate and vote to choose one finalist from Entegra and one finalist from Sodexo.

June 26th to July 10th
Finalist
announced!

Finalists will then build upon their initial submission for a live final round.

July 17th
Live final
round!

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

August 22nd
Winner
announced!

Overall winner announced.

August 22nd

Meet the judges

First round Online

Bryan K. Chichester

Senior Director of Culinary Strategy.

As Senior Director of Culinary Strategy, 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 teams key focus areas are menu & recipe development, product testing and food photography for North America.
Jaime Lawing

Product Specification Manager, Business Performance & Supplier Engagement.

Chef Jaime is the Product Specification Manager at Entegra. Her interest in the culinary arts started at a very young age, in admiration of a bustling kitchen at home, growing up in a family of 5. In southern culture, congregating with food and family is what you do. Family gatherings were full of love and good eats. This feeling is what Chef Jaime puts into her work. Food is what brings families together. This inspired Chef Jaime’s career path to enter the hospitality industry. Jaime attended East Carolina University where she earned her Hospitality Management degree and began her career in hotel management for 5 years at Hilton and Marriott. She would later attend Sullivan University in Louisville, KY, allowing her to follow her dream of becoming a chef and earning a culinary degree.

Chef Jaime has 10+ years of culinary management leading teams in catering operations as well as owning her own personal chef and catering business. Before joining Entegra, Jaime was a chef for a boutique wedding caterer, a successful corporate chef in the university setting, and a culinary solutions advisor at a GPO. When COVID came, this gave her a chance to blossom in her own business by curating a meal delivery service in her local community. She soon then found her way back to the GPO space at Entegra. Her role as Product Specification Manager allows her to engage with Suppliers as well as match products for clients. Chef Jaime’s love for food, family and togetherness is what drives her passion, no matter which culinary setting she is working in.
Lisa M. Feldman

Director of Recipe Management.

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 women-led 501(c)3 nonprofit research and communications collaborative.
Lynn Hay

Director, Culinary Operations, Entegra Performance Kitchen.

As the Director of Culinary Operations at the Entegra Performance Kitchen, Lynn manages the day-to-day operations of the kitchen where she and the team host clients for cuttings, menu innovation and ideation, focus groups, food photography and food videography.

Having earned her undergraduate degree in Journalism and spending several years in corporate sales, Lynn followed her passion into the hospitality industry. After receiving her Culinary Arts degree, she founded her own catering company in Lincoln, Nebraska.

After 13 years, she sold her business and joined Sodexo/Entegra with roles including Regional Account Manager and National Account Manager. Her culinary and entrepreneurial background were a great fit for her role at the EPK which she joined in March 2022.
Rajiv Jaggi

Senior Manager, Culinary Innovations.

With a career that’s as celebrated as a fine dining menu, Chef Rajiv Jaggi has delighted patrons and guests for more than 30 years. From his start at the Hyatt Regency, Delhi and the Culinary Institute of America, he’s made his mark as a chef in notable restaurants from Boston to Chicago to Las Vegas—and even developed menus for 26 international airlines flying out of O’Hare International Airport. Chef Jaggi has catered to foreign dignitaries, presidents and prime ministers, as well as to legendary American sports teams the Buffalo Bills, Chicago Bears, New York Mets and New York Yankees.

As a Senior Manager of Culinary Development for Sodexo, Chef Jaggi is passionate about training chefs, developing menus for the Sodexo Healthcare segment and sharing his vast knowledge of Indian and global cuisines.

Final round Live

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.
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.
Arnold Myint

Celebrity Chef, TV Personality, Culinary Instructor and Nashville Native.

Nashville native Arnold Myint grew up in his family restaurant that served the community for over 40 years. He is a classically trained chef and instructor with a focus on regionally sustainable Thai cuisine. He and his sister Anna recently re-opened their family’s International Market as a tribute to their beloved parents. The food at International Market honors the timestamp of a culturally budding Nashville of yesteryear along with Arnold’s modern sensibilities; sourcing and supporting local farms and vendors. Arnold was a contestant on Top Chef, Food Network Star and works in food media with companies including Tastemade and Buzzfeed. He is a contributing writer for Epicurious and Conde Nast and has been featured in the New York Times. Additionally, Arnold is the subject of “Family Thais”; a documentary that chronicles his journey to cooking at the illustrious James Beard House in New York City. Currently, Arnold can be seen on the television series Deliciously Twisted Classics on A&E Network.

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A unique competition that aims to connect and inspire Sodexo and Entegra chefs who understand the power of food.

Culinary Innovation Challenge

An invitation from Acqua Panna & S.Pellegrino

How it works

Submission window opens!

Submission window closes!

Evaluation & selection of top finalists

Finalist announced!

Live final round!

Winner announced!

Meet the judges

Bryan K. Chichester

Jaime Lawing

Lisa M. Feldman

Lynn Hay

Rajiv Jaggi

Richard Arakelian

John Csukor

Arnold Myint

Want to know more?

Culinary
Innovation
Challenge

Submission
window opens!

Submission
window closes!

Evaluation & selection
of top finalists

Finalist
announced!

Live final
round!

Winner
announced!

Want to
know more?