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We are proud to announce that our fearless leader, Candy Wallace, Executive Director, APCA, has been selected as Entrepreneur/Businessperson for the 2003 IACP Awards of Excellence in the Awards Gala in Montreal on April 12. The Awards are presented annually to honor members whose outstanding achievements and unending pursuit of excellence embody the highest standards of the organization (IACP). The finalists in each of five categories were announced on March 11, at a press reception in New York.



[This message was edited by APCA Webmaster on April 13, 2003 at 12:39 PM.]

Well, for all our visiting friends, we have just received word, that Chef Candy won the very deservedly 2003 IACP Award of Excellence in the Entrepreneur/Businessperson category.

Congradulations Chef Candy, and thanks for making the APCA THE leader of the Personal Chef industry. Your hard work & dedication is most appreciated.

Congratulations Candy, From your friends in the Canadian Personal Chef Alliance, Your dedication to the industry is an inspiration to Personal Chefs everywhere!! the award is well deserved

Hello Everyone!

Thank you all so much for the wonderful messages and good wishes. I'm sorry I haven't been able
to be on-line to tell you EVERYTHING about the conference and the award ceremony, but I am just
back at my computer for the first time since returning from Montreal.

I have SO MUCH to tell you!

Montreal is magnificent! It's beautiful, exciting, uncrowded and SAFE. The restaurants are
staggering - we got out every night and explored everything from Toque to the Latin Quarter and
the produce markets with the local foie gras and artisinal cheeses can make you weep. I may not
eat again for the rest of the week I'm so full, but what an experience.
I want to go back and do more exploring when the weather is warmer and the city is in bloom.

The conference was outstanding. They provided break out sessions on topics all across the board,
and had tastings from Vietnam, Sardinia, Panama and a taste of Montreal that was blowout. We
attended sessions on difersifying your culinary career, what food editors want, women in food
films, etc. It was three days of great information and demonstrations.

Jacques Pepin and Jacques Torres both did demonstrations that were terrific, and the food at the
meeting was diverse and exciting.

The last event was the Awards Ceremony followed by the Awards Banquet on Saturday night, and
believe me, I was REALLY nervous by then. It's hard to attend the conference and be low-key
about being nominated, because it's such a HUGE honor, and you just want to explode with
happiness and fear.

I was so pleased to be sitting in the room of over 1,000 attendees with two of my favorite people,
Nicole Aloni and Denise Vivaldo. They kept me calm right up to the time the category was
announced. When Elaine Corn read my name, everyone around me started to scream and clap,
and I'm telling you, what people say about that momemt is absolutely true. You hear your name
from far away in your head, and your mind turns to GOO!!!!!
(I don't think I've been that excited since the day Denny and I were married.)

I got up and walked onto the stage and Elaine hugged me and congratulated me and I, of course,
began to cry... I hadn't planned to do that so I didn't have a pocketfull of kleeenex. Just one little
kleenex so I had to get it together fast or risk the prospect of having mascara running down my
nose during my remarks. So attractive...

The placque I received is beautiful. Denny is going to find a way to post it so you can all see it. I
had it in a death grip while I spoke, and I'm going to post the remarks I made (as best I can,
because I don't remember a lot of what happened), but I do know that a lot of people were
laughing and crying right a long with me, and folks came up later to say how much my remarks
meant to them, so I think I did OK there.

Here's what I think I said:

"This is WONDERFUL!!!!! Thank you. Thank you!

It wouldn't be honest if I said 'I can't begin to thank you for this award', because I'm here right
now to tell you EXACTLY how happy I am to accept this award.

I'm accepting the award on behalf of approximately 6,000 personal chefs across the continent who
have been out there on the front lines with me building a new culinary career.

It's been my priviledge and my PLEASURE to have trained and supported over 3,000 of those
working personal chefs through the American Personal Chef Institute and represented them
through the American Personal Chef Association over the course of the last 8 years.

We started out as a Fad. We worked really hard and became a Trend, and now, we're percieved as
the 'hot, new, personal service with staying power'! It had long been my goal to establish personal
chef as a Legitimate career path in the culinary industry, and a viable alternative career for
culinarians looking to leave institutional cooking situations. I actually achieved that goal last July
when I signed a partnership between the American Personal Chef Association and the American
Culinary Federation at their National Conference in Las Vegas.
Not only did this formally validate the personal chef career, we adopted and rolled out specific
personal chef certification that had been jointly developed by ACF and APCA. (and that only took
me 6 years...)

It is my pleasure tonight to announce that we are currently working with your IACP Certification
committee to develop a personal chef specific addendum to your CCP (Certified Culinary
Professional) Certification. I am so thrilled about this, since it will give all personal chefs the
opportunity to choose which professional certification path they choose to pursue, and I'm big on
options!

It is now my goal to continue to teach, support and represent successful personal chefs through
our organization and through the industry in general so this personal chef industry can grow and
thrive and some day be as successful, vibrant and EFFECTIVE as IACP.

And finally, for those of you who have survived a conversation with me regarding personal chefs, I
want not only to applaud you for your stamina, but to thank you for your graciousness and
patience in the face of my overwhelming enthusiasm for this project.

My heart is so very full tonight.
Thank you."

At that point, I turned from the podium and exited, stage right to get backstage. When I got
backstage there were friends and colleagues who were whooping and laughing, and as I started
down the stairs to them I was laughing and crying and I missed the bottom step and went down
on my ankle like a ton of bricks. (I can just hear my Dad in Heaven saying "That's my daughter,
Candy - Graceful as a gazelle!").

Guess who didn't get to go to the Awards Banquet?
That would be me, but I got a lot of hugs and pats and people would walk right up and
congratulate me and say nice things while I was waiting for a taxi to take me back to my hotel.
Jacques Pepin stopped by and said "Well, Candee, ow duz eet feeel to no longer be inveezeebul?
Not bad, Chef, not bad...

When I got back to my hotel the Manager heard what had happened and arranged for a wheelchair
to take me to my room. He then sent up onion soup, a bottle of California Chardonnay and a box
of chocolates so I could celebrate afterall. The Room Service staff came up every 2 hours with
more ice to fill the bags on my ankle and folks stopped by when they heard what had happened so
I actually had a fun night. Got to speak with Denny and with Gord by phone as well as to some of
my cousins, too!

The trip home the next day was a painful nightmare. It took a combination of 6 wheelchairs,
handicapped vans and electric carts to make all of the connections to get home, and when I saw
my Denny's face at the teminal in San Diego I wept with relief.

The last two days have been about ice, compression, and elevation (3 VERY boring but necessary
elements), and tody I am up and in a cast and back in the world.

I am SO glad to be home. I am SO proud to be a personal chef, and I am so beholden to all of you
for your kind messages and support.

What a year!
I can't wait to see you all in San Diego.
We need to party!
Candy