The elite group includes some of the biggest names ever to grace the business—luminaries like Danny Meyer, Wolfgang Puck, Charlie Trotter, “21” Club’s Jerry Berns, and New Orleans’ Ralph Brennan.
And that’s just on the fine-dining front. The list of past winners includes at least 10 founders of restaurant chains, from Panera Bread (Ron Shaich, 2005) to Ruth’s Chris Steakhouses (Ruth Fertel, 1995) and Bob’s Big Boy (Robert Wian, 1959).
Some of their start-ups have been lost to us, but they were the Texas Roadhouses and Chipotles of their day.
George LaSauvage took home the Gold in 1960 for his management of Schrafft’s, the place where the matrons of New York City’s elite families would lunch, pinkies bent, after a day of shopping on 5th Ave.
Pope’s Cafeterias is long gone, but it foreshadowed a number of trends in the 1940s and ‘50s that are still evident in the business today. It grew out of the International Shoe Co., which ventured into foodservice as a way of feeding employees at its plants, making it an early pioneer of what we know today as business-and-industry foodservice.
One of its foundational principles was keeping the recipes simple enough that someone could work the line without any previous experience in the business. The cafeteria format, touted at the time as self-service, reduced the labor requirements overall.
The value it delivered drew workers from other businesses, along with shoppers who’d learned of it through word-of-mouth, prompting two Pope brothers to try a streetside version. It caught on, earning CEO Henry H. Pope the 1959 Gold Plate.
The inflight and airport meals provided by Trans World Airlines drew a Gold Plate for Dieter H. Buehler, Director of Dining Services, in 1976.
Jessica Shelly, Director of Student Dining Services for Cincinnati Public Schools, was awarded the Gold Plate in 2023, in no small part because she got meals to the district’s students while schools were shut because of the pandemic.
George L. Miller won in 2011 for the foodservice operations of the United States Air Force.
The CEOs of Dunkin’, Wendy’s, Eat'n Park, Buffalo Wild Wings, Denny’s, First Watch, Olive Garden, and Golden Corral, among other chains, have all won Gold Plates.
The ranks include such figures in the business as Joe Lee, the veteran who rose from managing the first-ever Red Lobster to become the CEO of its parent company, Darden Restaurants.
Herman Cain made a run for the U.S. presidency in 2012. That was 20 years after he’d won a Gold Plate as CEO of Godfather’s Pizza.
Pete Harman earned his honor as chairman of Harman Management Corp., a company little known outside of the restaurant business. What’s even lesser known is his role in introducing KFC to the nation. Colonel Harlan Sanders had the recipe for Kentucky Fried Chicken, but Harman opened the first franchise restaurant, with hundreds more to follow, and showed the Colonel how to turn a menu idea into a chain.
He’s also credited with coming up with the notion of selling the chicken in a bucket, still a signature of the brand today. In addition, Harman is credited with brainstorming KFC’s long-standing slogan, “Finger lickin’ good.”
Harman won his Gold Plate in 1990.
The next inductee into the exclusive club of Gold Plate winners will be announced at a gala event on Saturday, May 17, at Union Station in Chicago. The winner will be selected from the eight winners of a Silver Plate, the honor recognizing the year’s best operators in eight sectors of the food-away-from-home industry.
They in essence are the finalists for the Gold Plate, the best of the best. That winner is selected via secret ballot by a jury consisting of past Silver and Gold Plate winners, members of the media and industry VIPs.
This year’s nominees are Michael Skipworth, CEO of Wingstop; Kevin Hochman, CEO of Chili’s parent Brinker International; Geoff Alexander, CEO of Wow Bao; Gary Crompton, CEO of Aramark Workplace Experience Group; Patti Klos, Senior Director of Dining Services at Tufts University; Richard Schneider, Chief Development Officer at concessionaire Areas USA; Whitney Ellersick, Executive Director for Nutrition Services at Hillsboro School District; and Ryan Conklin, Director & Executive Chef Culinary and Nutrition Services at UNC Health Rex.
The Gold and Silver Plate Awards are presented by the IFMA Food Away from Home Association, the forum for all components of the foodservice industry.
To learn about this year’s Gold and Silver Plate Awards celebration, click here.
As Managing Editor for IFMA The Food Away from Home Association, Romeo is responsible for generating the group's news and feature content. He brings more than 40 years of experience in covering restaurants to the position.