Steven M.
Bergman is the founder and principal of CEC Culinary Consulting, LLC
in Houston,
Texas, a culinary
consulting firm utilizing Chef Bergman’s strong knowledge,
experience and skills in the culinary arts as well as his
exceptional resources in the hospitality industry. Chef Bergman is
widely recognized as an authority and teacher in many segments of
the hospitality foodservice industry.
CEC Culinary
Consulting provides client-based, customized culinary services for
corporate and private clients, including restaurant startups, menu
concept development, recipe development, menu engineering, culinary
training, spa cuisine and recipe modification, food safety and HACCP
compliance strategies, food production systems and auditing
services. Through CEC,
Chef Bergman has served local and national foodservice operators,
K-12 governmental agencies and high profile institutional
clients.
Mr. Bergman is
currently consulting with Luby’s Culinary Services, a new division
of Luby’s, to help build a healthcare and B&I contract services
component for this company. In press releases, newspaper reports and
stockholder reports, this venture is being called “the future” of
the company.
Mr. Bergman
grew up in New York
City and attended the prestigious Bronx High
School of Science. Upon graduation with honors, he attended the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
After formal
culinary training, Chef Bergman trained with some of the most
talented chefs in the region, including Hervé Glin at the
nationally-acclaimed Cité Grill and Bruce Molzan at Ruggles Grill.
He networked with some of the most influential figures in the
culinary world including Robert Del Grande, Dean Fearing, Mark
Miller, Jeremiah Tower, Carl Walker and Alex
Brennan-Martin, gaining a firm foundation in New American and New
Southwestern cuisines. Chef Bergman’s menus and daily specials,
along with special vintner dinners were greeted with rave reviews by
both local and national critics.
During his
years as Executive Chef of the prestigious Methodist
Hospital in
Houston, Chef Bergman refined his
culinary style, preparing world-class cuisine and spa cuisine for
many high profile and international guests including Presidents,
royalty, actors and actresses, businessmen and sports celebrities –
to rave reviews. After the disastrous tropical storm Allison
destroyed the kitchen in 2001, Chef Bergman worked with world-class
architects and foodservice design consultants to build a
state-of-the-art 20,000 sq. ft. production kitchen utilizing
conventional and cook-chill systems, and 12,000 sq. ft.
servery.
Chef Bergman’s
honors include “Houston Chef of the Year” in 1998 and First
Place honors in the American Culinary
Federation National Soup and Sauce Competition. He achieved three
competitive medals in the American Heart Association Heart Healthy
Competition. Mr.
Bergman’s distinctive recipes have been published in numerous trade
magazines, cookbooks, and online postings. He designed, wrote and
published an online culinary newsletter “Chef’s
Corner.”
Mr. Bergman’s
formal training included Culinary Arts Certification in Houston, Texas. He continued his
professional development at the Culinary Institute of America in New
Hyde Park, New York.
Chef Bergman maintains his professional credentials as a
Certified Executive Chef, sanctioned by the American Culinary
Federation, through attending seminars and culinary training at the
annual ACF convention and the National Restaurant Association and
NAFEM trade
shows.
