Chef Al Menard

Chef Al’s culinary career path was influenced early on by a grandmother who catered at the Swedish Community Park in Vancouver, B.C., and a Mother who taught cake decorating and is an accomplished cook herself. An original “Latchkey Kid”, he was home after school while his parents were still at work before the term “Latchkey” was even invented. From the age of eight, one of his after school chores was to have dinner on the table for the family by 5:00pm.

Having always wanted to cook professionally, but hating the “we work when other people play” hours, Al received a degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1979. He has designed jet engines, was an efficiency expert in an electric power plant, and has owned his own produce company. While operations supervisor for a commercial painting company, he painted several restaurants. That is where he discovered the world of corporate dining. Those were hours he could work and still have a life. He begged a grill cook job from the dining facility he just painted and has never looked back.

Chef Al graduated first in his class from Scottsdale Culinary Institute in 1998. Since that time he has worked in several corporate dining facilities, even helping his first boss open a new one. He has also worked for a major grocery store chain, training chefs for their gourmet deli departments. Tired of the big city of Denver, Colorado, Al and his wife Mary moved across the state to Grand Junction, Colorado in 2005.

Currently Al holds several positions. He is Chef Instructor of Baking at Colorado Culinary Academy, a degree program run through Mesa State College. Al considers this his dream job and hopes to increase his time in the classroom and in his own small way, guide the future of our industry.

Chef Al is also Executive Chef at Mesa View Retirement Community, one of 300+ communities for active seniors owned and operated by Holiday Retirement Corporation. As the manager of the food services department, he and his staff are responsible for providing enjoyable and nutritious meals to a great group of residents 3 times a day, 7 days a week. Chef Al believes that cooking is but a small part of being a Chef. Organization, an eye for detail, and a sense of urgency, all the while keeping an eye on the “bottom line” can make the difference between a successful Company and a “has-been” Company. After all, restaurants are first and foremost businesses.

Al has been married to his lovely wife Mary for 14 years now. They enjoy hiking, gardening, (especially roses), and playing with Goober, their “world famous” avatar dog. One of the main reasons Al and Mary moved to Grand Junction was that they wanted to feel like they were part of a community again. Denver was too big for a boy that grew up in a town of 250 people in the mountains of Colorado. Al now volunteers his time, both individually and as a representative of Chefs 4 Students, to various charitable causes in the area. He has contributed both his expertise and his money to support the cause of scholarship fundraising through this wonderful “second home”, as he calls it. A recipient of an academic scholarship while in culinary school, that money inspired him to give back to the industry that has been so good to him! He tries to instill those same values in all of his students; that it is important to give of yourself, your time, and your finances to help others succeed in this business.