Local man wins spot on Olympic culinary team
A $7,000 grocery bill is just a matter of course to Uniontown native Richard Rosendale.
Several courses, that is. Rosendale, 27, an award winning sous chef at the Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., will represent the United States in 2004’s culinary Olympics competition in Erfurt, Germany.
“I’m really proud to be a member of that team,’ Rosendale said during a recent visit to his Ben Lomond Street home.
With just less than eight years of professional cooking under his belt, Rosendale said he is the second youngest person to serve on the prestigious Olympic cooking squad.
His journey to that elevation, however, began with something many people like to do – eat.
“I was in high school and, like all the other kids my age, trying to decide what I wanted to do. I thought about entering the military. But I like eating.
“I played football and was on the track team but in my senior year I took a home ec (economics) class.
“I checked into some culinary schools but most of them were very expensive. I went to the Westmoreland County Community College and did a three-year apprenticeship there.’
That apprenticeship included working in the kitchens at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Farmington. “But as soon as I finished that apprenticeship I started one at the Greenbrier,’ he said, which was another three-year stint.
This one was much more rigorous.
“I worried about his health because he was working so much. Sixteen hour days, many of them,’ his mother, Sharon, a retired teacher, said. His father is Richard Rosendale, former Greene County prothonotary.
“But I am extremely proud of him, of both my children.’ Sharon’s daughter, Kristen, who has a degree in urban specialization, is a fourth grade teacher in Richmond, Va., “in an area where there are a lot of challenges.
“I don’t think people realize the amount of determination and hard physical work that are involved to get what you want out of life. I couldn’t be prouder of him (Richard) and Kristen,’ Sharon added.
Admitting she is biased, Sharon is also slightly intimidated by her culinary child. When asked who is the better cook, she immediately rolls her eyes and points to Richard.
“He brought one of his chef friends home one time and I was worried because I was gong to have to cook for them. I made hot sausage sandwiches and vegetable soup, two things I can do pretty well.’
“There’s really nothing to be intimidated about,’ Richard consoles.
He has favorites such as classic French dishes, braised dishes, and others, and least favorite things to make.
But while many might assume Rosendale is a gourmand, he prepares such standard dishes such as meatloaf, one of his “comfort foods’. His recipe includes ground beef, pork and veal, “lots of Italian bread,’ minced onions and shallots, dried spices and some fresh herbs and reduced beef stock.
Coming from German and Italian ancestry, Rosendale said, “I like sauces, wines, sausages. Eating hearty is eating wholesome. Real butter and not margarines. I don’t like convenient foods that have a lot of unidentified ingredients in them.
“I like to cook when I come home, making meatloaf, or the turkey at Thanksgiving. Any meal can be equally stunning if it’s done the right way.
“We (chefs) like comfort food and are not in the habit of critiquing what other people prepare,’ he said.
Unless the “other people’ are culinary competitors cooking in contests.
While Rosendale and his Olympic teammates practice and compete in some challenges, “We don’t want to enter all of them. There are competitions in Singapore, Switzerland and South Africa. If you go to every competition, you show your stuff to the competitors. You don’t want to do that.’
Chefs from all over the world will compete at the 2004 Olympics, which are held every four years.
Rosendale earned his spot on the team last year at the American Culinary Federation tryouts in Chicago. Given a box containing assorted foods, he had about three hours to prepare a menu and meal that master chefs then ate and judged. He earned a gold medal, although that doesn’t automatically bring with it a spot on the Olympic team.
“You had to write an essay on why you wanted to try out for that event. You also had to send references. They invited people to the tryouts for the competition, which were held in Kentucky. I had to do a five-course meal and a buffet platter. I got a gold medal there,’ he said.
Advancing to Chicago and the Olympic tryouts, he competed with 15 other chefs.
“It’s a huge honor. You get the opportunity to represent everybody who has ever helped you and that you have worked with. There is also the camaraderie, working with other people in the industry. The networking and friendships are priceless. I want to make sure I will do a good job.
He said that at the Olympics, the team will cook during the 10-day event.
“We will have to do a table display,’ he said, explaining the foods will be “glazed’ or preserved with gelatin. “Those foods are just for display and not to be eaten.
“We will have to make a three course meal with 105 portions of each course. Portions will be given to the judges but we won’t know which ones. That means they all have to be perfect.’ The courses will feature seafood, an entrÇe and dessert.
Leading up to the Olympics was the Culinary World Cup, held in Luxembourg, where Rosendale’s team competed with 27 other countries. They walked away with a gold medal.
Meanwhile, the team practices collectively in New York and individually.
“When I practice at the Greenbrier, I always have someone else taste what I make.’
Traveling to practice sessions offers other challenges. Rosendale has learned the art of creative packing.
Finding himself 18 pounds overweight on his luggage – which consisted mostly of his tools and food – he stuffed potatoes and carrots into his suitcase and fashioned a cooler out of some styrofoam. “You can’t ship this stuff out ahead of time because the practice sessions are short and you have to have everything you need when you get there.’
The grocery bill for the team can easily hit $5,000 to $7,000. Rosendale estimates it will be about $15,000 a day for the Olympics.
While the competition brings him glory, his job brings him knowledge and satisfaction.
As sous chef at Greenbrier, he is the second in command in the kitchen, the chef’s assistant and his right hand man. “I’m not as directly involved in the production as I am in supervising the staff,’ which includes about 165 cooks at the resort. “It’s a pretty big kitchen,’ he said. A single restaurant at the Greenbrier might serve 1,000 people in a day, while another, smaller and more intimate, may serve 100.
“I taste sauces, check on the people and get production into full swing,’ he said, speaking more like an assembly line supervisor.
But what comes off his line is anything but standard fare. For example, appetizers on The Tavern’s menu, just one of several restaurants at the resort, include such things as Torchon of Foie Gras and Rhubarb Tart Tatin, Wild Alaskan Salmon and Baby Leek Terrine, Saffron Crab and Boursin Ravioli.
Petrossian Beluga caviar with toast points and traditional garnishes, (1/16 ounce), goes for $95.
A soup course follows offering such things as Madeira Scented ConsommÇ and a salad course featuring Duck Prosciutto and Citrus Salad. EntrÇes include Roast Truffle Scented Poussin, Chilean Sea Bass roasted in olive oil or Tournedos of Beef with Oxtail Timbale
Rosendale said these and the more “traditional classic dishes’ are what he enjoys preparing.
“I don’t like making pastries much, although I enjoy eating them,’ he added.
“I was intimidated at first when I went to the Greenbrier,’ Rosendale said. But he credits much of his skill and training to the mentoring he received from The Greenbrier’s Executive Chef, Peter Timmins, one of only 59 certified master chefs in the world.
“He has played a large role passing on knowledge to me and helping me hone my skills.’
“I am expected to go into more of a supervisory role than cooking. But I don’t want to go anywhere where I am taken away from the stove entirely,’ he said.
Rosendale plans to become a certified master chef. The test, he added, is 10-days long and held at the Culinary Institute of America. “It covers everything, from charcuterie (sausage making), to carving, preparation, it’s just a very grueling test. If you want to take that test, you are training for it all through your career. At some point, I’d like to do that.’