Todd Van Wieren, executive chef at the Haworth Inn and Conference Center, has been named a Certified Executive Chef (CEC) by the American Culinary Federation (ACF).
The ACF is the only body that certifies chefs.
The ACF sponsors nine levels of certification, beginning
with certified cook and culminating with certified executive
chef and certified master chef.
Certification as an executive chef involves
meeting requirements in education and work experience,
including completion of a written examination and employment
as an executive chef for at least five years.
Recertification is required every five years.
Van Wieren has been executive chef at the Haworth
Inn and Conference Center since the opening in 1997. He
manages a kitchen staff of 20 full- and part-time employees.
The Haworth Center kitchen prepares meals for conferees at
the center year-round, as well as for students who dine in
the student dining room during school-year weekdays.
He is employed by Creative Dining Services, the
management company that oversees Hope's hospitality program.
Van Wieren is the second CEC on its culinary team.
Van Wieren has been in the food service business
for approximately 20 years, and his work experience ranges
from resort-area restaurants and catering, to full-service
hotels. Prior to joining the Haworth Center staff, he had
been an executive chef in the Holland community for
approximately 10 years.
He is a 1983 graduate of Saugatuck High School,
and a 1987 graduate of the Culinary Arts program at Grand
Rapids Junior College. He has taken management courses at
Davenport College, and has State of Michigan certification
in food service sanitation.
Van Wieren lives in Glenn with his wife and two
children.
The Haworth Inn and Conference Center is located
at 225 College Avenue, between Ninth and 10th Streets, and
opened in January of 1997. The center has 50 hotel rooms
open to the public, as well as meeting and banquet
facilities that can accommodate groups of up to 400 people.