I wish the new owners/chef the best of luck.

You got me there.

I guess I'll just have to agree with you that a newly coined cook is the same as an executive chef.

Ah, but what is a corporate chef? Someone who cooks the books.:laugh:

Here is your "chefs" hat, wear it proudly:

http://www.zoomstart.com/wp-content/...-dunce-cap.jpg

Wow
 

I was just going to post on the Woodlands thread about how I tried the place recently (2nd time) and was impressed with the progress made since they opened. But after reading the above all I can do is offer that Mr. Weiss best refrain from the "Airing of grevances" and/ or posting with a "tone" that can eaisly be seen as negative towards other local business. (Unless of course he is celebrating Festivus).

Rember Mr. Weiss - in this town there is always someone watching.

Again, i think most of you have missed the point. Perhaps, poorly worded, but i was merely try to correct the misuse of the term "Executive Chef".
In no way is this an attack on a competitor, their product or skill set.. as i stated earlier, best of luck an hope they have a productive run...

Fact is, what the Lakes Region needs is competition and friendly rivalries in the food industry. From what i have read over the last few months is that as a whole, the last several years in this area, the restaurants in the Lakes region have become complacent.... perhaps they should step up their game a bit. Competition = Creativity!!!

time out
 

Time to quit while you are still way behind. Maybe come up with a new screen name becasue your tarnishing the ones you have here. And why do you have 2 screen names anyways? I tried that years ago with my first thread of "Mr C's and I have been on probation ever since. sorry about that Don

Just out of curiosity, are you a "Certified Executive Chef"? If not, what education do you have in the culinary field other then "30 years experience".

I am a Certified Executive Chef. I attended the Academy of Culinary Arts, which at the time was the #2 in the US. I have degrees in Culinary Arts and Business Management....

The American Culinary federation is 501c corporation that offers CEC as well as Certified Master Chef certification through testing. Many industries have multiple organizations that set themselves up as the go to source for job advancement through testing. Personally, one of my favorites Jacques Pepin was not CEC or CMC certified, but he was personal chef to Charles de Gaulle; which in my book is good enough for me.:laugh:

For what it's worth, I didn't think your initial message that set off this storm was all that bad. In fact, I found it kind of helpful.

For my wife and I, we enjoy trying new places. I've been to several 5 diamond places, and a ton of ghetto joints that would scare many people away. Much of it is "setting expectations". If a restaurant is billing themselves as having an "Executive Chef", I'm going to set my minimal expectations higher than maybe some place that doesn't call attention to the kitchen staff, or lists "Head Cook", or "Head Chef", etc.

I understand the perspective of titles being earned, but from the angle of the guy eating there, it's all about the food. If a 10 year old prodigy can hook up some foie gras and sweet breads like nobodies business, then I'm not going to question them being presented to the diners as an "Executive Chef" on the restaurant menu or whatever (yes, they might not have the business sense of a "true" exec chef, but as the diner, I don't care about that).

So, if someone wants to call themselves the executive chef they are, IMO, setting a higher level of customer expectation. If they can deliver on that expectation, then I have no issues. But, if they're still perfecting their craft, it might be wise to tone down the titles and leave a little more margin for error in a sense.

What set off this storm, at least in my opinion, is Mr. Weiss' poor judgement (intentions??) in posting on this thread. He did not simply explain the duties of an executive chef, he demeaned the abilities of the new chef/owner of Lavinias in an arrogant and offensive manner. And then he thanks a poster for stating that the poster doesn't care about titles, they just want good food. Then why the post in the first place? Mr. Weiss also posted on his own businesses thread that he wants criticism instead of guest leaving mad, yet he thanks a poster on the Ellacoya thread who stated they visited Ellacoya, were not acknowledged, and left. I see no good intentions from this man, only a pathetic attempt to further his business by harming the reputations of his competition. Having seen this in my business, I have no respect for his kind. By the way, the following may be of interest to Mr. Weiss

http://www.unionleader.com/article/2...50/1015/news13

So, how did i demean anyone? Again, i never critiqued any products, skills, service etc. I was merely trying to correct a misuse of "Executive Chef".

How am i harming the rep of other businesses?
I didn't serve their customer. I didnt ignore their customer. That was, that establishments problem. If their patron chose to leave and come here, post a negative review about another establishment, and say they came here a received better, how am i in the wrong?

Thank-You Alton Lady. He is an executive chef according to this article. phew I am glad the mystery is solved!:laugh:

How did you demean someone? You did not make a statement about titles, you specifically commented on a competitors qualifications

"the "Chef" is a recent culinary grad... he is nowhere near Executive Chef status or level... "
" ive earned the right to be called Executive Chef, the newbie is a Chef Di Partie with a bit of education."

If you had good intentions, you would have simply started an informational post describing the various titles of a culinary team. Do you personally KNOW the qualifications and experience of Mr. McGuff? Did you need to use him as an example to make your point?

As far as harming the reputation of competitors is concerned, how would you feel if the owners of each restaurant in the area thanked a poster with negative comments on your restaurant? It's petty and unprofessional.

Quit while you are ahead. A simple apology and a claim of responsibility for your lack of judgement or good intentions would have taken you far.

Here is the link to verify certified executive chef status, which is challenging to obtain. Mr. Weiss claims status as a certified executive chef, yet he is not on the ACF's list. Dinner at Lavinia's, anyone?

https://www.acfchefs.org/ACFSource/C...ification.aspx

Just because the Union Times article label somebody an executive chef does not mean the person is a certified executive Chef.

A bigger concern for me would be where did the liquor come from that the new owners of Lavinia's sold just before closing for 2 weeks. It is against the law to transfer liquor when selling a restaurant.

Why is it of interest? Because a local paper uses the title executive chef?

Once again, people seem to have this religious fervor about restaurants in the area. The guy had only a couple of posts here when he wrote that post, he has 8 as of the time I'm writing this. Let's just give him the benefit of the doubt and assume maybe he hasn't quite figured out the "vibe" here yet and might have been able to phrase his thoughts a little better.

Unless, of course, you've managed to go your whole life without ever making any pompous statements or saying things you might have later regretted or wished you had worded differently?

The point to be taken from the article is that Mr. McGuff has experience in restaurants from California to Connecticut. Mr Weiss claims that Mr McGuff just graduated from culinary school and lacks experience.

Brendan McGuff (Identified in the paper as the infamous Lavinia's "Executive Chef" is not listed as an Executive Chef on the ACF's list, either.

So ... what makes him an "executive chef?

I don't know him, he may be a good cook, even a passable chef, but I have to assume Eric Weiss knew what he was saying when he claimed McGuff was a "recent culinary grad," and even I, Clueless in the Kitchen, realize it takes years of experience to earn the title "executive chef."

Otherwise: "It don't mean nothin.'"

OK,time to don my "Executive Sanitation Engineer" cap: time to take out the trash.

His Facebook page lists him as a graduate of the 2013 class, I would say that seems fairly recent, certainly less than a year.

If you look at the Facebook page from where he got his culinary degree, they have an album for a December 2012 class, and an album for an August 2013 class. If he was in fact in the August 2013 class that would be VERY recent.

"Experience from California to Connecticut" is pretty vague, you have to admit. Was he a busboy? A pantry chef? An expediter? Doesn't really say...

You, and others, seem to want to take what was apparently an accurate, if not less-than-optimally-worded post and interpret it as an attack. I didn't see it that way.

My guess is Mr. Weiss is probably a pretty solid chef. I wouldn't hire him for $1 to run a PR campaign, but I'm guessing he doesn't want that job anyway :)

For someone who said: "Why is it of interest?" You sure have done a lot of digging.

Not everything gets put on a resume'
 

Our young chef may have worked in family owned restaurants like so many you chefs start out... Not necessarily put onto a job history. No need to get the child labor police looking at the fact a kids works with the family for 10-12 hours per day, 5-7 days a week.

Regardless, I wish the lad well. Hope it is a success.

I hope now we can get back to food discussions, and realize that perhaps the chef-owner of the Woodland Tavern will get back to cooking, and leave the tartness out of his food...and his posts.

Literally 7 minutes spent.
Pop his name in Google, first match is Facebook account.
Under Education is the culinary school link, click that, look at their info and albums. 2 "graduate albums". Couple of other generic searches, and you have basic data.

If other people did any amount of digging or fact checking before spouting off this thread would probably be a lot shorter.

The original post really only called attention to the fact he was a recent graduate, it didn't really get into his exact experience, though I'll admit it did *imply* a certain limited amount of experience, if you want to read it that way.

A followup post from another person seemed to be trying to make the point that since the highly esteemed local paper (OK, I'm being snarky ;) ) labelled him an executive chef that seemingly worked his way coast to coast across the country that he must indeed be an accomplished individual.

You can debate the tactfulness of that original post, but I still don't think it contained any inaccurate or misleading info.

I never agreed with the first time poster is not allowed to have a negative 1st post theory, but really (I'm gonna be that guy in this case) ..... your first 8 posts are all from today, and 5 are on this subject. Your affiliation with the (ex / current ?) Lavinias folks is what exactly? That one exists is pretty much obvious. If I am wrong then you need to lighten up - you read way too much into things and are overly sensitive.

I liked Lavinias, but I think it's questionable to have a 'Drink the Bar Dry' promotion, as you link to in your article, as that sends the wrong message - come drink all the booze you can as we are doing renovations (booze doesn't have a shelf life in their location for some reason?).

I'll join the club that Eric was a tad bit uncouth with his original post, but I don't doubt his intent - I liken it to somthing like a master plumber - just because you graduated from a trade school does not make you an expert, you have to earn that. Eric obviously feels strongly enough about his qualifications that he seeked to educate us (albeit in a quasi-questionable fashion), but the intent of being educational is obvious to me.

I loved the William Tell Inn, and I loved the old Lavinias, I hope the new Lavinias has a great run as well. Went to Woodlands once for dinner and once for apps and drinks, and walked away happy both times. Not overly wowed, but happy that a place like that is half a mile from me and gives me an Ellacoya alternative - it's different and a solid value that is also right next door.

Let this thread die already.....the guy didn't have ill intentions, take him at his word and move on.

Hello from Lavinia's
 

Figured I would chime in here, being the chef with the burning ears. I’d love to introduce myself to the Winnipesaukee community — I hope to serve you for a long time! My name is Brendan McGuff and I am executive chef/partner in Lavinia’s. I’ve read all the comments about my title as executive chef. Titles have never really meant much to me. Here, I simply want diners to walk away with an entertained palate, having just enjoyed our impeccable and approachable dining experience. I invite you to stop in (we reopen on Saturday) and check out the fresh and local flavors of our enhanced menu. Feel free to tell me about your experiences here, and always be sure to say hello!

Check out some pictures from our kitchen renovation and house cleaning: https://www.facebook.com/LaviniasDining

Best,
Brendan McGuff,
Lavinia's

Nice intro. Welcome to the forum and good luck with Lavinia's. I think you are in a great spot. I am anxious to dine with you, though it won't be till late spring or summer.
I'll be the guy who orders a slightly dirty vodka martini, 3 olives, please.

Well I don't know how the food will be but I have one word for you response after all that was written " CLASS "
good luck

Humm.. tempest in a Stock Pot! :rolleye1:

We can't wait!
 

We can't wait to make you that drink!

Thanks!
 

We appreciate your comment very much. We plan on being a part of the Lakes Region dining community for a long time to come and cannot wait to meet you and everyone else who loves this area as much as we have come to.

Welcome to the forum. I was hoping you would show up. You too have referenced your self as an executive chef. Is this a self proclaimed or certified title?

Wishing you the best at a location with a bit of a checkered recent past.

It is about the food!!!!
 

Enough with the title nonsense...virtually no one cares. It is all about the food.

Can someone post a menu...we will certainly give the restaurant a try.

Jetskier:cool:

All about the taste
 

Let your mouth buds be the judge. To each his or her own.

I will try Lavinia when I am in your 'neck o' the woods'.

Whatever his chef title is, if the food is good, its OK by me.

We are just putting the finishing touches on the new menu and will post it later today!

Wishing you much success!

Wishing you much success and so looking forward to visiting you in the coming weeks!
:):)

"Nonsense.. no body cares" perhaps those who take the time to write about a pool-bar selling frozen precooked to reheat by line cook food as a positive don't care about titles. I care about credentials. Especially in this case as a short time ago I had such a bad experience at this restaurant that I swore off the $100 dinner for 2. A certified chef would excite me enough to try it again.

I've heard all kinds of rumors. I posed the question to the chef with hopes of clarification.

Brendan, my husband and I can't wait to come visit and try your menu. We've been following your renovation progress on facebook and the kitchen looks beautiful! Congratulations on your new venture - you've got a fantastic spot! Keep walking in dignity, and respect will continue to follow you. :)