HISTORY
The Peacekeeper
By Kay Orde
It’s fitting that Harry Hoffstadt, CEC, AAC,
HOF, was the first recipient of the American
Academy of Chefs Lawrence A. Conti Chair’s
Achievement Award, because the two go
way back. Hoffstadt received the inaugural
award at the 2009 ACF National Convention
AAC Dinner in Orlando, Fla., in July 2009. A
year later, he still remembers how proud he
felt going up on stage to receive it.
members hired by the MM Club, where he
took the position of sous chef. He has been
the executive chef at many properties in the
U.S. and Europe, including one that earned five
stars in the Mobil Travel Guide. Hoffstadt, who
will turn 82 on July 30, retired as executive
chef/director of food services at A.B. Dick Co.,
Chicago, in 1992, after 18 years of service.
says one of the most important jobs of a
regional vice president is to help chapters be
strong and vital forces in their communities
by uniting the membership. “They must help
solve problems the chapters are having
among their members,” he says. “These are
all good people. Let’s live together in peace.”
Hoffstadt
“I have lots of medals, but my most important
medal is the Larry Conti medal—which I call
the peacemaker’s medal,” Hoffstadt says.
Today he lives in Niles, Ill., in the home he
shared for many years with his wife Adelle,
who died four years ago. “I worked hard,”
Hoffstadt says, “but I never would have
achieved what I did without her.”
And for a chapter president, he says, there’s
an even bigger task. “It’s the responsibility
of a president to create peace. Why do we
need war? We need to stick together.”
The award was established in honor of
Lawrence Conti, CEC, AAC, HOF, past chair
and vice chair of the AAC, and is given to
a Fellow of the Academy dedicated to the
Academy and the culinary profession. Conti’s
leadership, integrity and concern for members
and their careers is legendary. Hoffstadt
experienced those attributes firsthand.
In retirement, he’s still active. In addition to
visiting family and friends in Switzerland
each year, Hoffstadt continues his history of
helping—from past culinary Olympic teams
to whoever is currently president of his
chapter, ACF Chicago Chefs of Cuisine Inc.
He joined the chapter in 1958 and served
four terms as president, as well as being
a member of the board of directors and
contributing to many committees. Currently,
he is the historian for the Chicago Culinary
Museum and Chefs Hall of Fame.
Sticking together was what chefs used to do,
Hoffstadt says, and he’d like to see it come
back into fashion. “We all worked together, and
we shared. I remember a spinach dish I used to
make that a chef at another property admired.
So, one day, when I finished work, I went over
there and showed him how to do it. We all used
to work together. And we helped each other.”
In Chicago, Conti was known for keeping the
peace among ACF members, he says. “They
were all fighting. So I asked Larry, ‘What do we
do here?’ And he made peace among them,
and they became the best of friends. I learned
from Larry Conti how to keep the peace.”
Hoffstadt, who has more than 65 years in
foodservice, discovered his life’s work growing
up in Switzerland where his working parents
had no time to cook. When his grandmothers
were no longer able to prepare the family
meals, he took over, because, he says,
“Someone in the family had to, and it was me.”
Hoffstadt has been a member of the AAC since
1977, and served as secretary/treasurer from
1989 to 1993, when Conti was chair. He was
inducted into the AAC Hall of Fame in 2002.
He joined Les Amis d’Escoffier Society of
Chicago in 1972, and as chairman from 1982 to
1999, he wrote the dinner rules for the society.
These rules, with Conti’s help, were adopted for
the AAC dinners, another example of Hoffstadt
and Conti working as a team. Hoffstadt is also
a longtime member of the International Food
Service Executives Association, the Honorable
Order of the Golden Toque and the Catering
Executive Club of America.
It’s a lesson Hoffstadt hopes the younger
generation will learn from their elders, but he
cautions that young people coming into the
profession right out of culinary school must
learn to look beyond the glamour of chefs
on TV. And he recommends that they follow
in the footsteps of the older generation
of chefs who gained their knowledge and
expertise in apprenticeship programs. “But
whatever path they take, what matters is
that they come to understand what it takes
to earn that title of ‘chef,’” he says.
He began his culinary training at 15, and
graduated from the Hotel Business School
Monita in Lucerne, Switzerland, in 1954.
Coming to the U.S., he made his way to
Chicago. His first job was with past ACF
National President John Bandera, CEC, AAC,
HOF, before he moved on to the city’s Standard
Club. From there, he became one of five staff
“Then, my advice would be to go into this
profession. You will have a bright, good life
and incredible experiences. The opportunities
out there are unbelievable, and if you’re lucky,
you’ll find a way of life you’ll never regret.”
As ACF Central Region vice president, he
coordinated the 1983 tryouts for the 1984
ACF Culinary National Team USA. But he
Hoffstadt has no regrets. “It was a wonderful
life,” he says. “I made good money and had
good bosses. It was the best decision I ever
made, and if I had to do it again, I would do
exactly the same.”
