In-depth classes and activities offer unique culinary learning opportunities!

These delicious educational programs and activities will inspire your menus, teach chefs and kitchen staff new techniques, create new trends and improve your kitchen overall.

Plus, almost all sessions will let you sample high-quality recipes so you get a taste of these menu items for high-volume and culinary-focused kitchens. Stay tuned for more session information.

Schedule at a Glance

SUNDAY, August 9

New! Optional Event | Culinary Hands-on Experience

Only a few spots left for this exclusive, hands-on culinary training - register today!

MONDAY, August 10

Registration opens at 7:00am

Sessions will run from 8:00am - 12:15pm

Optional Salt Lake City Tours
Tours will return to the Hilton between 5:00pm and 6:30pm
Get an up-close look at how successful Salt Lake City caterers organize their operations and develop culinary offerings with your choice of one of these exclusive tour options:

• Tour 1: Culinary Tour
  Enjoy the hospitality of Salt Lake City caterers with samples of food, beverages, and behind-the-scenes secrets at each location.

  Board the bus to visit three of Salt Lake City’s most successful catering and events companies. While touring through each location, you will have the opportunity to learn systems used for producing catered events, see profit centers that add dollars to the bottom line, and discover trends, style, and presentation ideas used by these successful operations…and don’t forget the food! Each location will be sampling signature dishes to give you more inspiration for your menus.

  Culinary Crafts
  From a humble beginning in her home kitchen, Mary Crafts has shepherded the development and growth of Culinary Crafts for the last 30 years. Recognized as the Best of the State for 12 years in a row, this multi-award-winning company is the go to caterer/event planner for brides, planners, destination management companies, corporations, and celebrities in Salt Lake City. Joining the company leadership in 2002 after learning the business from the ground up, sons Ryan and Kaleb now work with Mary to lead Culinary Crafts into the future. If you ask for their secret to success, the same answer will come, not only from the Executive Team, but from every other Culinary Crafts team member: the secret ingredient is seeking excellence regardless of the task. Everyone brings their best to work every day. 

  In 2014, Culinary Crafts built a new catering headquarters and moved to Pleasant Grove, just outside of Salt Lake City. Enjoy a hosted tour of this well-planned and specially designed facility, and garner many ideas for organization and customization of your own location. Learn more at www.culinarycrafts.com

  Taking the Show on the Road.
  At this stop, you will be able to view the mobile catering operations of two Salt Lake City catering companies…Marley’s Gourmet Sliders and Utah Food Service.

  Marley’s Gourmet Sliders offers catering for all types of groups and events, from small backyard parties to large corporate events. Executive Chef and President of Catering Operations, Marco Niccoli is leading the company as the catering division grows to fill a unique niche in the marketplace. The catering operation is run out of a vintage 1978 airstream that has been converted into a mobile kitchen along with a big food truck style motorhome. Known in the local market for serving small burgers with big flavors and tiny shoestring fries, it is their commitment to using fresh local ingredients whenever possible and offering fresh cooked high quality food that sets them apart.  Learn more at www.marleys.com

  Utah Food Service is a full service catering company committed to elegance, quality, and truly personal service. As the exclusive caterer for the Salt Palace Convention Center and the South Towne Expo Center, UFS has and continues to provide creative cuisine and innovative services to thousands of Salt Lake City visitors, in addition to local corporations and for social occasions. Additionally, they have successful wedding, floral & décor, and rental divisions.  On this tour, you will have the opportunity to see two of their fleet of mobile kitchens and learn how they are designed for maximum efficiency, discuss capacities and mobile event logistics, and hear tips on starting your own mobile kitchen division. Learn more at www.utahfoodservices.com

• Tour 2: Cultural Walking Tour
  Enjoy a guided walking tour through Salt Lake City’s cultural and culinary offerings with samples along the way. Tour will include stops at: Family Research Center where you will have the opportunity to track your family lineage, Temple Square, From Scratch pizza parlor, and the famed Eva's Bakery.
• Tour 3: Taste of Utah
  Unearth the flavors of Utah by enjoying some of the region’s culinary offerings. Hear about Utah’s authentic unrefined salt, which is contains no additives, get a glimpse of the art of making cheese from a local cheese producer, expand your charcuterie IQ learning how sausage is made, and go inside the hive with honey bees and learn the sweet facts about honey and its many trending uses.

Optional Pub Crawl | Meeting Spot: Beer Bar, Time TBD
AOCF2015 attendees are invited to explore Salt Lake City with like-minded attendees in this optional pub crawl. Starting down the street at the local Beer Bar, owned by Modern Family's Ty Burrell, guests can enjoy more than 100 beer and beer cocktail selections at this local hotspot before following the crowd, and guide Kaleb Crafts, to some of the best pubs in town!

Note: Beverages are not provided, but are available for purchase at each location. A map of crawl stops will be provided at the Beer Bar and you can come and go as you please. All stops are within walking distance to the Hilton and Holiday Inn locations.

TUESDAY, August 11

Sessions will run from 8:20am - 5:00pm

Optional Event | Boots, Buckles & BBQ | 6:30pm - 10:00pm
This Is The Place Heritage Park, Salt Lake City, UT

Schedule is subject to change.