Members In the News August 2008

What makes our association great is our members! Not only are our members leaders in their industry, they also take a forefront role in their community. Check out just a few of our amazing members who are making the news and a difference!

Ray Kavanaugh Honored
At the annual Salute to Excellence Awards Gala in Chicago, Ray Kavanaugh, IRA Board Member and Chair of the Purdue University HTM Department was recognized for his service to the industry. The 2008 Michael E. Hurst Lifetime of Achievement in Education Award was presented to Raphael R. Kavanaugh, Ed.D., FMP, professor and department head, Purdue University. One of the highest honors in hospitality education, this award is presented to a current or retired post secondary and/or graduate professor or administrator who has dedicated his or her career to academic instruction in the field of hospitality, culinary or foodservice management.

IRA Members at Cooking for Cause Competition
Congratulations to chef Greg Hardesty, recently of Elements, winner of the first annual Cooking for a Cause competition to benefit Lungs for Life at The Chef's Academy downtown. Hardesty's straightforward but pristine preparations of the secret ingredient, Viking lamb-such as a silky lamb carpaccio with heirloom tomato salad, a lamb pho, and lamb on a bed of spring vegetables-nosed out the celebrity competition. That included Ryan T. Nelson of The Oceanaire Seafood Room, Neal Brown of L'Explorateur, Jason Alexander of The Chef's Academy, and last-minute substitute competitors Tommy Thompson of Fireside Brewhouse and Brandon Hamilton of Traders Point Cafe, filling in for Eli Anderson of H20 Restaurant and Sushi and Dave Tallent of Bloomington's Restaurant Tallent, who were unable to attend because of recent flooding.

D'vine Goes Green
Locally owned D'vine, A Wine Bar is going green with its newly established ECO-VINO Thursdays, a weekly event that focuses on organic, bio-dynamic and sustainable agriculture wines paired with organic food and live entertainment.The wine bar is also trying to lessen its environmental and carbon footprint: menus are printed on recycled enviro-copy paper (with the previous week's menu on the back), bottled water is no longer served, and all bottles are recycled.

The Oceanaire Seafood Room Receives DiRoNA Recognition
The Distinguished Restaurants of North America (DiRoNA) recognized The Oceanaire Seafood Room as a distinguished DiRoNA fine dining restaurant. The DiRoNA certification is one of the highest honors to be achieved in the dining and hospitality communities.
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Indy Chipotles turn to Hoosier chicken
Chipotle Mexican Grill says it will serve Indiana-raised chicken in its restaurants in Indianapolis. The Colorado-based restaurant chain has contracted with Miller Amish Country Poultry in Goshen to supply naturally raised chicken to Chipotle. Miller Amish hatches chickens in Goshen that are raised on Amish farms in the area.

IRA Member Featured in Entrepreneur Magazine
Who's Counting? Full of ideas? Create multiple businesses while still in school. Here's how.
By Nichole L. Torres Entrepreneur Magazine - June 2008
If you're young and full of the energy it takes to start a business while still in college, why not start two--or even three? That's exactly what 21-year-old Jeremy Clarke did. He started his first business, a website design company called Vortex Web Solutions, while still in high school. After starting college at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in 2006, he launched SharperResults.com, a web resource used as an assessment tool in classrooms and in homes. And last year, he launched IndyDining.com, a directory of Indianapolis restaurants that includes menus, coupons and reviews.
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