By Betsy Feinberg

Robert Simmelink, Executive Chef and Business Development Manager for Alto-Shaam, Inc.
As Executive Chef and Business Development Manager for Alto-Shaam Inc., a leading foodservice equipment manufacturer, Robert Simmelink wears many different hats and loves them all. A seasoned chef, Robert’s background includes stints in different kitchens around the country. After graduating from the Milwaukee Area Technical College with an associate degree in Hotel and Restaurant Cookery, Robert ascended the culinary ranks, gradually working his way from a line cook at the Golden Mast Inn in Wisconsin to a Sous Chef position at The Bakery in Chicago, then as Chef Saucier at the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, and finally as a Chef de Cuisine at Bikini in Santa Monica, CA. Robert’s experiences in hotel kitchens helped him make a smooth transition to the corporate side of the foodservice industry. At Alto-Shaam, Robert now divides his time between working with and educating chefs on how to maximize their results with his equipment, and strategizing with the product development team and engineers about future projects and improvements. We asked Robert to shed some light on working in the corporate world of the foodservice industry.

Betsy Feinberg: As Executive Chef for Alto-Shaam, a foodservice equipment design company, how is your job different from that of a chef in a restaurant?

Robert Simmelink: Mainly the hours - no nights and very few weekends. Now I get to go out to eat at night instead of cooking food. Also, I no longer have to prepare the same food every day. Each day varies according to the people who are coming into my kitchen to cook with me and learn about our ovens. One day it might be fine dining chefs, the next day a casino chef looking to cook 5,000-10,000 meals, and the next day a supermarket deli.

BF: How do you split your time as both the Executive Chef and Business Development Manager for Alto-Shaam?

RS: They go hand in hand. The Business Development title means that the sales department comes to me with ideas for equipment or modifications, and I evaluate those ideas before presenting them to Engineering. I use my food knowledge when working with Engineering to keep them focused on how equipment is used in a kitchen. After they build an oven, we test them in real world applications. We like to say that we are not selling equipment, we are selling food. I have to use my food and cooking knowledge to convey how Alto-Shaam equipment will help a chef cook faster and with more consistent quality, while explaining how he or the owners will see a return on their investment in reduced labor cost, reduced food cost or improved food quality.

BF: How is your job different from chefs who test recipes for say, a magazine or a cookbook?

RS: I have more freedom; I do not have to weigh and retest every ingredient in a recipe for perfect cooking. I deal with only professional cooks and chefs, helping them prepare their menus and supplying them with new ideas and menu ideas to cook in Alto-Shaam ovens.

BF: Do you specifically develop recipes to be tested out on the equipment? How do you come up with those recipes? Are there any specifications you need to keep in mind?

RS: Yes, we are constantly trying to keep current in food trends and how they relate to Alto-Shaam equipment. If I dine somewhere and eat something great, I will take that concept and develop procedures for it in our ovens. When sous vide first hit, we started figuring out how to cook the food in our combi-therm ovens instead of a hot water unit. Many times, when I'm in the kitchen with other chefs we will go to the cooler and see what is available and just start cooking and creating. We also host presentations weekly and serve a tasting menu. All of the dishes we prepare are from our equipment so this gives us many recipes.

BF: What magazines/trade publications/cookbooks do you read to stay current with trends?

RS: Everything I can get my hands on pretty much – Food Arts, Art Culinaire, Restaurant News, plus foodservice equipment publications, school foodservice equipment publications, and other publications of that sort.

BF: How did you land a job in this niche of the foodservice industry? What previous jobs have prepared you for your current position?

RS: Most corporate chefs will have worked at least 15 years in restaurant and hotel kitchens to gain the experience needed to discuss food and cooking with other executive chefs and cooks. My background is with the Ritz-Carlton Hotel group and individually-owned fine dining restaurants in Chicago and LA. My last job was as chef de cuisine for John Sedlar at Bikini in LA. After the earthquake in 1993 I wanted to move to more stable ground. After hearing about the kinds of benefits a corporate job entails, I applied. I still love it after 12 years.

BF: What are some of the best and worst parts of your job?

RS: There really is no bad part of my job. The best part is the freedom to cook whatever I want without a food cost, and not having to worry about labor issues and all the other day-to-day problems that chefs deal with.

BF: What is a typical day like for you?

RS: Every day is different. I spend most of my time in the kitchen, although sometimes I’m stuck in engineering and product development meetings. Next week I have to fly to Boise to meet with a major customer, then after that I have a big group of chefs coming to my kitchen to test recipes. So I don’t really have a typical day routine.

BF: Do you get to do much traveling for your job?

RS: I travel about once a month to different places within the country, meeting with clients. I have 2 other chefs I work with who are fluent in 3-5 languages, so they do a lot of international travel. They’ll go out of the country for 6 weeks at a time, come back for 2 weeks, and then leave again.

BF: What advice would you give someone wanting to get a job as an executive chef and development manager for an equipment company such as Alto-Shaam?

RS: You need to gain experience in every cuisine and cooking style. One day you will be working and cooking with chefs from the best restaurants in the world, the next day you may be cooking with school cafeteria cooks or a chain restaurant or hotel group.

BF: What are some of your goals for the future?

RS: I am really happy where I am right now. I like the company and the corporate environment. I don’t fall into a routine and nothing gets mundane – there are always new chefs to work with and new products to develop. Alto-Shaam keeps me feeling challenged. They give me free reign in the kitchen, and they pay me well for doing something I enjoy. I think I can achieve many of my goals and aspirations within my current position.