Jim Dodge
Director, Specialty Culinary Programs
Bon Appétit Management, Palo Alto, California

Jim Dodge joined Bon Appétit Management as General Manager at the Getty Center, then in 2004 was promoted to Director, Specialty Culinary Programs and relocated to the corporate office in Palo Alto, California.

Dodge's family, whose service experience dates back seven generations, began their first hotel in the White Mountains of New Hampshire with the opening of the Pendexter Mansion in 1794. From early training and direction at his parents' resorts, The Inn at Steele Hill and the Squam Lakes Club, Dodge went to work for James Smith at Wentworth-by-the-Sea, in Portsmouth, NH, and ultimately met Swiss Chef Fritz Albicker, who changed his interest from becoming an hotelier to a chef.

Dodge learned how to meld Swiss influence with his New England heritage, resulting in the unique method of preparation and styling that sets him apart as a chef-extraordinaire. In 1978 he moved to the West Coast to be the Executive Pastry Chef at the Stanford Court in San Francisco. Continuing to develop his career, in 1991 he moved further west to Hong Kong where he opened American Pie, a restaurant and pastry shop offering modern American fare and then in 1994 opened the American Pie Factory, a wholesale bakery, and a second American Pie in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. Returning to the States, Dodge became the Senior Vice President at the New England Culinary Institute in Montpelier, VT, where he raised the Institute's standing in the culinary world. He also supervised all areas of educational and operational quality, including two fine dining restaurants; two moderately-priced family restaurants, three cafeterias and a bakery cafe. In December of 1996 he became the Director of Food Services at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Dodge redefined Fine Arts Restaurant, the Galleria Cafe, and the Museum Cafeteria, as well as special events at the MFA.

Dodge has published several books, including the award-winning cookbook, The American Baker and Baking with Jim Dodge. He is a contributing editor to the revised Joy of Cooking as well as a former contributing editor to Food & Wine magazine, and consulting culinary editor to Cooks Illustrated. Jim's articles have appeared in Cooks magazine, The Pleasures of Cooking, Woman's Day and The San Francisco Chronicle.

Dodge has received numerous honors, including the "Honor Roll of American Chefs" (Food & Wine magazine, 1983), the "James Beard Cookbook Award" in 1987, and the "Gold Plate Award" presented by the American Academy of Achievement in 1989. He is a former board chair of the Los Angeles chapter of the American Institute of Wine & Food, has served as a Food Service and Management Board Member for the New England Culinary Institute for seven years, and taught and lectured throughout the United States, Latin America and Asia. Currently he serves as a member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals Board of Directors and the Julia Child Foundation Advisory Council.

Dodge has appeared on several national television programs including the "Today Show," the "Home Show," and "Good Morning America," and has appeared in several PBS cooking series: "Great Chefs of San Francisco," "Great Chefs of the West," and "In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs." He also donates his time regularly to charities throughout the country.