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Rochelle Huppin

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Rochelle Huppin is an American chef, restaurateur and small business owner with projects based in Chicago, Illinois, and Culver City, California. After graduating from The Culinary Institute of America in 1987, Huppin founded Chefwear, Inc in 1990, a company that provides culinary apparel to the hospitality industry.

Huppin was one of the founding partners and Executive Pastry Chef at Beacon: An Asian Cafe, before it closed its doors to the public in 2011 [1].

Biography

A native of Spokane, Washington, Huppin once dreamed of moving to Paris, France to study culinary arts. After high school graduation, her parents suggested that she attend a 4-year university in the United States before attending culinary school [2]. With her parents advice in mind, Huppin attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and graduated in 1984 with a Bachelor of Arts in Literature and Languages. She also holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Judaism in Los Angeles. Post college graduation, Huppin continued down her culinary path and attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Parke, New York. Huppin graduated from the CIA with honors in 1987 with an advanced degree in Culinary Arts and went on to specialize in pastry [3].

After leaving CIA, Huppin jumped right into the culinary industry. Along with working and multiple well-known establishments, she co-wrote the pastry menu and held the title of Executive Pastry Chef at the now defunct Beacon Restaurantin Culver City, which opened in 2004 [4]. She was also one of the general partners with Kazuto Matsusaka & Vicki Fan [5].

Rochelle is the Founder and President of Chefwear, a company that features contemporary chef clothing. She is also an avid supporter of industry organizations such as: The James Beard Foundation, Women Chefs and Restaurateurs, Les Dames d’Escoffier, The American Culinary Federation, and the International Association of Culinary Professionals[6].

Huppin was named President of Women Chefs and Restaurateurs in 2011. Jamie Leeds of Hank's Oyster Bar in Washington D.C. was the President before her [7].

Culinary background

Huppin worked part time during her senior year at UCLA, planting and tending the first herb garden at the Hotel Bel-Air.[8] She then attended the Culinary Institute of America. In 1987, upon graduation from the CIA, Huppin secured the position of Pastry Assistant with Michel Richard's Citrus Restaurant during the year it opened on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. She later returned to the Hotel Bel-Air as Assistant Pastry Chef and was subsequently promoted to Executive Pastry Chef, working alongside the hotel's Executive Chef George Morrone. Following this, Huppin worked as the Pastry Chef at Angeli Restaurant for Evan Kleiman [1], before heading to Northern California to serve as the opening pastry Chef for Bradley Ogden [2] and Michael Dellar's [3] Lark Creek Inn [4] in Larkspur, California. Rochelle then moved back to Los Angeles to work for Wolfgang Puck & Barbara Lazaroff [5] at their restaurants: Spago, located in West Hollywood at the time and Chinois on Main [6], in Santa Monica, California. Huppin served on the opening crew for their next two ventures: Eureka restaurant in West Los Angeles and Granita restaurant in Malibu. Huppin has participated in the opening of nearly a dozen restaurants.

Business

Huppin is the Founder and President of Chefwear, Inc., a company which manufactures clothing for chefs and those in the restaurant industry.[9] While a student at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in 1985, Huppin designed her own chef's clothing as an alternative to the uncomfortable, polyester student-issue chef's uniforms of the day, which were cut for men. Using all-cotton material, Huppin continued to have pants custom-made for herself after graduation, as she began work in the culinary field. While working as a pastry chef for Wolfgang Puck several years later, Huppin shared her pant innovation with other chefs on staff. During a Wolfgang Puck “Meals on Wheels” charity event in Los Angeles she gave out pairs of pants to several prominent chefs in attendance including Bobby Flay, Jonathan Waxman,[10] Jody Denton, Marc Valiani and Wolfgang Puck himself. Soon after, Huppin began receiving requests from other chefs for her pants. This led to the creation in 1990, of Chefwear, Inc. Huppin initially ran the business out of her Santa Monica, California, guesthouse, subsequently moving operations to Venice, California. By 1992, the growing business moved to Chicago, Illinois, and remained there until two years ago. Since the company's inception Huppin has served as the President and her husband, Gary Fleck, would eventually become the Chief Executive Officer. Chefwear’s catalog currently encompasses products for the professional chef and the recreational cook.[11] More recently, three more lines were launched: a shoe line, an Eco-friendly line and Barwear[12] – a new line dedicated to bar chefs and mixologists. Huppin and Fleck divorced in 2006 but continue to run the company together, with Huppin as president and Fleck as CEO. In the spring of 2009, Chefwear moved from their base in Chicago to a new and larger facility in Addison, Illinois, as it needed more space for growth and expansion.[13] In January 2010, Chefwear reached its 20th anniversary.

Huppin was the Executive Pastry Chef and founding partner of Beacon, an Asian-inspired café in the Helms Bakery complex in Culver City, California.[14] She worked alongside her partners: Executive Chef Kazuto Matsusaka, General Manager Vicki Fan and Pastry Chef Lorraine Tajiri.[15] The restaurant closed in January, 2011, after a seven year run.[16]

Awards

  • Fellow, Culinary Institute of America, 2011
  • Ambassador, Culinary Institute of America, 2010
  • Hannah Solomon Business Woman-of-the-Year from the National Council of Jewish Women, 2003 [17]
  • Share Our Strength Sponsorship Award - 2000
  • Chicago Manufacturing Center Excellence Award - 1996
  • Business of the Year award Chicago Mercantile Mart—1994

References

  1. ^ http://www.beacon-la.com/bios-rochelle.php
  2. ^ http://rochellehuppin.com/about
  3. ^ http://www.foodislife.org/cia-alumni-profiles/rochelle-huppin-87-founder-and-president-of-chefwear/
  4. ^ http://blogs.laweekly.com/squidink/2011/01/beacon_culver_city_to_close_ma.php
  5. ^ http://www.beacon-la.com/bios-rochelle.php
  6. ^ http://rochellehuppin.com/about
  7. ^ http://www.womenchefs.org/displayboard.cfm
  8. ^ http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-72658356.html
  9. ^ http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-7725532/Rochelle-Huppin-President-Chefwear.html
  10. ^ http://cafemeetingplace.com/resource-center/instructornews/item/349-chefwear-founder-rochelle-huppin-/'87-returns-to-alma-mater-as-commencement-speaker-at-the-culinary-institute-of-america.html
  11. ^ http://www.hotfrog.com/Companies/Chefwear-Inc
  12. ^ http://baconfestchicago.com/chefwear
  13. ^ http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Rochelle+Huppin+Fleck.-a072658356
  14. ^ http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/5/61220/restaurant/Culver-City/Beacon-LA
  15. ^ http://www.buzzofla.com/Detail.aspx?aid=314
  16. ^ http://blogs.laweekly.com/squidink/2011/01/beacon_culver_city_to_close_ma.php
  17. ^ http://www.ncjwla.org/about/supporters.php

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