Restaurants and chefs in the food service industry have been one of the hardest hit groups impacted during the COVID19 pandemic. The fast-thinking group on Summit’s Food & Beverage team made some awesome moves during this time, joining forces with Flavor & The Menu , their clients, and partners in the industry – to present, Kitchen Collaborative: Forward with Flavor.  

Jaclyn Glatzer, Summit F&B Team Member

A pay–it–forward initiative designed to enable those artists in the kitchen to continue to do what they love — creating, inspiring, and collaborating while at the same time helping others impacted within the industry.  With 20 years of experience in the industry, our very own Jaclyn Glatzer led the group, using her network to get things cooking. 

How it Works 

Summit F&B connected with 25 executive chefs from operations, such as the Four Seasons, Hotels and Resorts, Lazy Dog Restaurants, Benchmark Global Hospitality, Marriott, Piada Italian Street Food, and Chili’s. Each chef was given 2 sponsors (brands and commodity boards within the industry) and asked to create a few recipes to be featured in the magazine, Flavor & The Menu. 

“We’ve been fortunate to work with some pretty amazing organizations like Bush’s Beans, Idaho Potatoes, California Avocado Commission – as well as Summit F&B clients, Barilla, Bel Brands and Aussie Beef & Lamb, in creating this project.“

Meatless Loaf (Photo Credit: Carlos Garcia)

The Gift That Keeps Giving 

With 70% of these chefs having undergone some type of financial hit during the COVID-19 pandemic, the project provided each participant with a stipend for their recipe development work.  Aside from being given the opportunity to create trend-forward recipes, most of them donated their recipe development fees to CORE, a nationally recognized community of support for all food and beverage service families in need. Read more about CORE here.  

When talking to Jaclyn about the chefs’ eagerness to be a part of Kitchen Collaborative, she said, “…since their job has been cut back, they are looking for any outlet to continue being creative and do what they love: cook. The fact that it’s for a good cause is an added plus – they can give back to families of their industry while still sharing amazing

Black Pepper Beignets (Photo Credit: Carlos Garcia)

recipes with the community.” 

At Summit, we are about people & their stories. We understand the importance of contribution and connection.  We’re proud to be leaders for such a tasty initiative – helping others engage – enabling them to bring their best to a cause when they need it most.