What is RFP?
RFP is the Roundtable for Food Professionals. We are a non-profit 501(c) 3 State of California Organization.

Who's invited?
Anyone who is or wants to be involved in the food industry on any level is invited.

What is the criteria for membership?
The desire to get together on a regular basis with other people in our industry is the only requirement for membership (along with monthly meeting fees and annual dues)!

Who are our members?
We have Owners, Managers, Food Safety Experts, Executive Chefs, Purchasing Agents, National Account Managers, Franchise and Product Development Consultants. We have Food Brokers, Manufacturers and Manufacturers' Representatives. We have Teachers and Professors from local schools and Colleges. We also have Market Research, Insurance, Accounting and Investment Professionals who specialize in helping and serving people in the food industry.

What are we about?
We are about networking. We are about getting together once a month to talk about what's going on the industry, to learn new things, and to keep up with each other in order to build our own contact networks. We are about supporting Culinary, Food Service and Dietetics programs at the High School, Trade School, Junior College and University levels by giving scholarships to deserving students and making ourselves available to students for discussions, events and programs at the schools.
Mentoring is a huge part of what we as Professionals want to contribute our time too.

MESSAGE FROM THE 2008-2009 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

First we'd like to wish all of you a Happy, Healthy & Prosperous New Year! 2008 flew by, as the years seem to do, and we enjoyed seeing those who were able to attend our events and we missed those who could not. Here's a brief recap of 2008 events and then a look at the RFP 2009 Calendar Year

January 15th, 2008 at Gladstone's Long Beach the New 2008-2009 Board of Directors enjoyed the first meeting of the year and the attendees met Gladstone's owner, John Sangmeister, who spoke about his restaurants, his experience, and his future goals. This event was initiated by long-standing RFP member and Board Member Janet Lowder, who had John in her Restaurant Management classes at UCLA!

March 18th, 2008 at Tom Bergin's Tavern in Los Angeles the group enjoyed the famous Irish Coffee and listened to the restaurant's personal history and background as L.A.'s oldest (founded in 1936) Irish establishment

April 16th, 2008 Cal State University Long Beach hosted their Annual Golf Tournament at El Dorado Park Golf Course, in Long Beach. All proceeds of this fabulous & fun event go to support the students in CSULB Hospitality Foodservice & Hotel Management Program. RFP Board & Committee Members Kathy White & Pamela Hanneman were lucky enough to attend this wonderful fundraiser and were met by its Program Director, Dr. Lee Blecher, of CSULB.

May 6th 2008 Orange Coast College had their 50th Annual Honors Night and presented 4 students with the RFP Scholarship Award! As quoted by RFP Committee Member, Carol Madle, "It was such an awesome feeling to participate in Honors Night and see first-hand the impact we can have on these young lives"

September 9th, 2008 at The Manhattan Supper Club in Orange, the group was amazed at the beautiful ambience of this new restaurant and were impressed with Chef Stephane Beaucamp's menu, from the French Onion Soup appetizer, to the Braised Lamb Shank and the Chocolate Chips Brioche Bread Pudding..Chef Stephane took time from his kitchen to speak to the group about his upbringing in France and his passion for cooking and dining with family and friends

October 31st, 2008 The Collins College at Cal Poly Pomona hosted the Scholarship Recognition Luncheon where all 6 of the RFP Scholarship Recipients attended and lunched with RFP Board & Committee Members Beau Lavine, Kathy White, and Dr. Ben Dewald

November 19th, 2008 at The Collins College, Pomona, and RFP held a Student Canapés Cook-Off Event featuring Orange Coast College, Cypress College and The Collins College students who treated guests to 3 different tasty & tantalizing Canapés. The event was so successful that another Student Cook-Off is scheduled for 2009! Whew! What a Year! And, looking forward to 2009. We've got an exciting Year Planned!

Please check out the 2009 Calendar on our website! The first Event is January 13th and we look forward to seeing familiar faces and meeting, mentoring, networking with new faces in the months ahead! Thank you to all our members and guests that made our first year as Board & Committee Members so memorable!

Beau Lavine, Janet Lowder, Kathy White, Dianne Marti, Deborah Thompson, Dr. Ben Dewald, Carol Madle, Pamela Hanneman, Michael Tom, and Sean Van Straatum

January 13th Event
The Americana at Brand in Glendale
889 Americana Way Suite 330
Glendale, CA 91210

"Experience the ultimate in shopping, dining, entertainment and luxury living at The Americana at Brand in Glendale, CA. From the carefully chosen boutiques and restaurants to the beautiful ambiance, every care has been taken to surround you with luxury." Featuring RFP Board Member, Janet Lowder of Restaurant Management Services' UCLA Student (Jonathan Weiss) who opened the "Hot Concepts" restaurant at The Americana "Granville Café"

"Come to Cypress College and Motivate Your Mind" RFP Scholarship Recipient, Jeremy Peters of Cypress College "spotlight" Testimonial to share with the attendees his success story, to inspire students and professionals

The New "L.A. Live" downtown at the Convention Center will feature Chef Rick who's become a "Hot Concept" at the Convention Center

THE FUNDRAISER EVENT: Golf Tournament at Manhattan Beach Marriott Golf Course

To Feature a Tour of a state-of-the-art food manufacturing facility with "Hot Concept" speaker, Flavor Director, Philip Barone, who will speak about flavor "concepts" and the "art" of creating & formulating flavors for the foodservice industries

To Feature the "Iron Student Chef" "hot concept" Cook-off! To include Cypress, Orange Coast, CSLB, Cal Poly's Collins College, L.A. Trade Tech colleges Culinary Students in Preparation of Menu Items w/ "secret" ingredients to be announced. The Food Science & Hospitality Students will provide nutritional & informative information on the Menu Items and be the "host/hostess" to attendees and be in charge of the General Management of the seating & serving of attendees.