Bob Perry, coordinator and consulting chef of the UK College of Agriculture Food Systems Initiative, is one of the culinary professionals featured in Culinary Careers: How to Get Your Dream Job in Food with Advice from Top Culinary Professionals. Available on May 4th by the Clarkson Potter Division of Random House, Culinary Careers discusses how one in the culinary arts may attain their dream job. Perry is one of 89 culinary professionals featured.
Bob Perry is a native Kentuckian, an avid gardener, food researcher and self-taught chef. His career has included stints as professional bartender; private yacht chef off the coasts of the Caribbean & New England; Chef/Owner of Farmer's Hall Restaurant in the oldest continuous Farmer's Society building in Pendleton, South Carolina; consultant for high speed ferries in Japan and on the Great Lakes; general manager of the oldest Steamboat in America, the Belle of Louisville; and general manager/executive chef of My Old Kentucky Dinner Train in Bardstown, Kentucky where he founded the National Dinner Train Symposium.
As the Director of Food Service and the Commonwealth Executive Chef for the Kentucky Department of Parks he redeveloped the concepts of 17 resort park restaurants, 3 employee cafes and the Café at the Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea. His program to facilitate government operations purchasing produce, meat and dairy products directly from farmers gained national attention.
He is currently the Coordinator for the Food Systems Initiative in the College of Agriculture at the University of Kentucky and serves as the hub of the sustainable food and farm diversification network. His task is to connect university research and extension efforts with governmental agencies, advocacy groups, farmers and chefs. Perry is an instructor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Science where he team teaches the Quantity Food Production course each semester.
The book, authored by Anne McBride, has a cover price of $16.99 and is available for pre-order on www.amazon.com.