National Chair- ACF Internal Audit Committee

Kent Andersen is the CEO and Founder of Tall Hat Foods and PRIME Restaurants Group. Chef Kent Andersen is an experienced Executive Officer, an experienced Executive Chef, and a long-time member and advocate of the American Culinary Federation.

Chef Andersen has served on the ACF National Internal Audit Committee for the last four years as the ACF Western Region Representative. He holds a MBA with an emphasis in Finance and has founded, owned, and operated successful restaurants and proprietary food development companies for the last twenty-two years.

Chef Andersen has demonstrated accomplishment and distinction in reviewing budgets and variants, forecasting financial costs and benefits, conducting financial reviews, initiating and receiving auditor’s opinions and management letters, and deconstructing financial statements within complex business organizations with several affiliates and subsidiaries in accordance with GAAP.

Chef Andersen is practiced in creating and reviewing compliance policies, regular expenditure reviews, the use and regulation of funds, reserves and accruals, acceptance of contracts, and the recognition of income in relation to legal and tax regulation, corporate policies, and company bylaws.

Chef Andersen is accomplished at preparing executive summaries and the accompanying liaison correspondence with compliance officials of the USDA, FSIS, FDA, and the FTC, in addition to financial auditors, and legal counsel.

Chef Kent Andersen is skilled at communicating ideas and working to accomplish superlative results within peer relationships. He was the ACF Western Region- Chef Professional of the Year in 2017. He received the ACF Presidential Medallion in 2018 and was inducted into the American Academy of Chefs in 2018. Chef Andersen and his wife and their family live in Utah.

It has been my honor to serve the membership of the ACF on the Internal Audit Committee for a term in 2017. The training that I have received has given me a much deeper understanding of how the ACF operates. I am confident that I can continue to represent the best interests of those who have elected me and I believe that serving as National Chairperson of the ACF Internal Audit Committee will provide some continuity that will be important to the financial success of our great organization. In addition to my service on the Internal Audit Committee the two years, I have served as Evaluator for both Secondary and Post-Secondary ACFEF Accreditation site visits over the last ten years and I serve as Exam Administrator and Approved Evaluator for ACF Certification practical exams four times a year. These experiences over the last decade have given me a great appreciation for the important work that is done in ACF to further our profession and a more keen sense of responsibility for a more sustainable future for those who will follow us. If given the opportunity to serve in this role, I will do everything in my power to merit the confidence placed in me.

Chef Jeff Bricker grew up on the south side of Indianapolis and has worked in the hospitality industry for over 30 years. He completed his culinary arts training at Ivy Tech Community College Central Indiana, participating as a student in a summer intensive Classical French Cooking program from l’Ecole de Cuisine La Varenne in Burgundy, France under the direction of Chef/Author Anne Willan.

Chef Bricker is a member of the Greater Indianapolis Chapter of The American Culinary Federation and a Certified Executive Chef and Certified Culinary Educator. In 2007, Chef Bricker was named Chapter Chef of the Year for the ACF Greater Indianapolis Chapter. In 2007, Chef Bricker received a national teaching excellence award from the National Institute of Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD). He serves as a board member of the ACF Greater Indianapolis Chapter and is an Approved Lead Culinary Evaluator for professional certification exams for chefs. Chef Bricker was the founder and chef/owner of The Columns Ballroom and Catering and The Colonnade Room, which he operated for fifteen years. In 2002, Chef Bricker sold the business to join Ivy Tech Community College as a full-time faculty member where he serves as the Department Chair of the Ivy Tech Hospitality Administration program in Indianapolis. The program offers specialty areas of study in Culinary Arts, Baking & Pastry Arts, Restaurant Management, Hotel Management, and Event Management that prepare the workforce to serve the hospitality industry in this region. Chef Bricker also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Indiana Wesleyan University and a Master of Arts degree in Adult and Community Education from Ball State University.

Chef Bricker currently serves on the board of directors for Second Helpings, Inc. and on the advisory board of three area high school culinary programs and is the lead judge for the Indiana FCCLA/ProStart and Skills USA High School Culinary Competitions each year. In 2012 Chef Bricker was inducted in the American Academy of Chefs and in 2016 he was inducted into the International Disciples of Escoffier. In 2013 Chef Bricker launched a line of “clean label” vinaigrettes- “Chef Bricker’s Brick House Vinaigrettes” that are sold in grocery stores and retail locations throughout Indiana.

Michael Ty is a Certified Executive Chef and a member of the American Academy of Chefs. He is national president of the American Culinary Federation and served three terms as national president from 1993-1994, 2009-2011 and 2011-2013. In Las Vegas, he owns and operates MT Cuisine, LLC and Hospitality Culinaire, Inc.

Ty received his Associate of Science degree in culinary arts from the State University of New York at Cobleskill in 1973. He continued his education with coursework at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

In 1975, Ty moved to Las Vegas and took a job at Caesars Palace Hotel Casino. He moved up through the ranks until he was promoted to executive chef in 1982 then food director in 1986. In 1989, he assumed the position of executive chef at the world-renown Desert Inn, Las Vegas. 1997 to 2000, Ty served as executive chef at Lawry’s The Prime Rib, Las Vegas.

Ty was born to Chinese parents in Manila, Philippines. The third of six children. His family immigrated to the United States in 1966 and settled in Waterbury, Connecticut. In 1968, they moved to Wavery, NY when he lived until he moved to Las Vegas in 1975. Ty is the father of four children, ages 27 to 39.

Ty is an active member of the ACF, Chefs Las Vegas, serving as a chapter president, two term treasurer and Board member for more than 10 years.

A member of the Confrerie de la Chaine des Rotisseurs since 1995 and currently is the Vice Conseiller Culinaire et des Professionnel des Etats-Unis and serves as a Trustee on the Chaine Foundation

Ty has received many accolades from both the American Culinary Federation and Chaine des Rotisseurs. Recently was recognized by the Mayor of Las Vegas and City Council for his community service proclaiming January 15th as “Michael Ty Day.”