Bauer of the San Francisco Chronicle. Chris “Koz” Kozlowski has just been elected chairman of the board of the New Hamp-
The Next Great Thing
shire Lodging & Restaurant Association.
Brant Worrell ’94 believes he has one of the
The Union Leader named his restaurant,
best jobs on earth. In his role at Illes Seasons
The Orchard Street Chop Shop, one of the “Top 3 Restaurants in New Hampshire.”
and Flavors, he gets to take what the company calls “Illes Dine Around.” He and his team travel to different countries to drill down deep
’00
Carolyn Bond is controller for the San Diego
Private Bank in La Jolla, CA. Jason M.
into regional cuisines and capture flavors and seasonings unique to those areas. You might
Giordano is executive chef for Hotel
find him dining at world-renowned elBulli,
Griffou in New York, NY. Timothy
where he’s savoring the unique flavor notes of
Hazen is executive chef for CRL Senior Living Communities. He was recently
innovative cuisine. He might be walking down
featured in Preserving Your Memory, a
the back roads of a Brazilian town, sampling
quarterly magazine for the Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation.
street food straight from a vendor’s cart. Or
Charles Kirkwood married in July
he could be found strolling a coastal town in
2009. He is wine operations manager at
Peru to experience what he calls the “next great
Block 7 Wine Company in Houston, TX. Michael Kyle is the managing partner
spice”—the aji panca chili. And he should know
at Bravo! Cucina Italiano in Homestead,
what’s coming down the pike; he’s the director
PA. Michael married in August 2008.
’02
Michael Anderson is chef/ owner of Bow Valley Gour-
met, a private and personal chef service company. Keith Vixie successfully
of culinary in the Research and Development Department at Illes in Dallas, TX. He started his research and development career after spending a few years as sous chef for Hilton and then a private county club. But with a baby
passed the Certified Dietary Manager’s
on the way, he simply wasn’t making enough money. He looked into the job of research chef and
Association exam and is now a certified
found one at Simmons Foods, a business-to-business poultry company that focuses on customizing
dietary manager for Las Ventanas, a lifecare facility in Las Vegas, NV.
chicken products for foodservice and retail companies. “I spent the first several months like a deer in the headlights,” he explained. But he soon got his feet under him and went on to create flavor
’03
Christine (Russell)
profiles and develop a line of five chicken wing flavors. He also learned the fine art of public
Alderman is crew member
relations, providing on-site demonstrations of how to prepare the various chicken recipes. Brant was
for Trader Joe’s in Arlington Heights, IL. She had a baby girl in January 2009.
hooked on R&D and became a member of the Research Chefs Association. In 2002, he was one of
Brandi N. Stephens is restaurant
the first 10 chefs to receive the Association’s Certified Research Chef accreditation.
manager for Nordstrom in Los Angeles, CA. She is also a cancer survivor and a
Interestingly enough, Illes Seasonings and Flavors, his current employer, supplied seasoning to
“warrior chick.”
Simmons Foods. That’s how Illes knew they wanted to “steal” Brant away for their R&D department.
’05
After approaching Simmons about it, they offered Brant the position and he headed for Dallas. Karina Gordon and Nicolas Massaro ’05 married at
Despite what some might think, Brant doesn’t spend all his time traveling the world and sampling
The Hershey Hotel in May. They have
regional flavors; he is often back in Texas directing bench development of flavor profiles for national
been together since they met at the CIA
accounts. He sees his role as part problem solver, part innovator, and part scientist. There are now
in 2004. Jorge Guzman is chef de cuisine for the Corner Table Restaurant in Minneapolis, MN. Jorge became engaged in July 2009. Sonya Trifilo and
five full-time food scientists working at Illes, and the small company has built a reputation as a culinary problem solver for its customers.
Taylor Kneubuhler ’05 married in Ra-
Over the years, Brant has stayed in touch with many of his CIA friends. He remembers his times at
leigh, NC. Taylor works as front of house
the college as some of the best in his life. And while he speaks fondly of his chefs and externship
manager for Kildare’s Irish Pub in Chapel Hill, NC. The Kneubuhlers are expecting their first child in May 2010.
employer, he remembers most the sense of camaraderie with his classmates. As for how the CIA has impacted his career, he explains, “My CIA degree has done nothing but help me along the way!”
33