DECADES OF EXPERIENCE
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inspiration
With decades of combined restaurant experience, our McCain chefs create dishes that help drive traffic — all while helping you prioritize profits.
In my 35-plus years in it, foodservice really is like an extended family. I love when I go to learn or cook at an industry event…We bounce ideas off each other, share meals, help each other out with our individual work problems.
Mark Slutzky, Director of Culinary at McCain Foodservice NA
OUR CHEFS
Chef Mark’s
fast 5
IF I COULD ONLY EAT ONE FOOD FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE
Katz’s Pastrami on rye with coleslaw and their mustard. I grew up on it!CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT
At home, my air fryer. At work, tongs.FAVORITE INGREDIENT
Drumroll please... Potatoes!CULINARY INFLUENCE
PBS chefs (Julia Child, The Galloping Gourmet but especially Jacques Pepin)FAVORITE DISH TO MAKE
BBQ. I love talking with fellow BBQ nuts while waiting in lines.
CHEF MARK Slutzky
DIRECTOR OF CULINARY, NORTH AMERICA
Chef Mark has been with McCain for 18+ years. After graduating college as a pre-med student, he switched gears and came up through the restaurant business in NYC. He spent a year in Paris after graduating from the Culinary Institute of America, working in a few Michelin-starred restaurants and then slowly worked his way up from a line cook, sous chef and eventually executive chef at a small American bistro. He finished his NYC career as the executive chef of a large corporate catering company.
With his family, Mark moved to Kingston, New York after 9/11, and with his brother and dad, operated a family-owned BBQ joint. His brother still runs the restaurant, serving amazing food.
Chef Mark is always thinking about how he can transform ingredients and bring what he sees on his work travels into his recipe development.
As much as I travel, I like to make sure that I explore a new city, market or area to discover things that I have never seen before. I was in Buford Highway Market in Atlanta (if you’ve never been, I can wander the aisles for hours) and I came across some finger limes that I had never really used.
I wound up using them like a sour/sweet caviar pearl for a sweet potato latke recipe I was working on with some Saigon cream for a little unctuous spice — was amazing!
In a culinary career spanning 35+ years, it’s hard to pinpoint one moment that has stood out. However, when pressed, Chef Mark looks back to 1997.
The restaurant I was Executive Sous Chef, Judson Grill, was awarded 3 stars from the New York Times. Knowing how much work we collectively as a team put into it (BOH, FOH, ownership, support systems, etc.) really made all those personal sacrifices worth it.
I’ve always looked at my career as like being on a sports team — an individual is only as good as the collective parts together and it was an amazing feat to be acknowledged for all the hard work.
That team approach and pride in work has been key to Chef Mark leading McCain Foodservice’s team. He loves being the department head of not just a great bunch of talented, creative and eager chefs, but being an industry expert internally and externally and really helping our customers grow. As a five-year Board Member of the Research Chef Association, Mark sees himself as fortunate to be able to interact daily with that next generation of manufacturing and customer chefs, giving back to the culinary community that gave so much to him.
Chef Ron’s
fast 5
FAVORITE INGREDIENT
Kosher saltLEAST FAVORITE INGREDIENT
OkraCULINARY INFLUENCE
My momYEARS IN INDUSTRY
Started at age 16FAVORITE DISH TO MAKE
Papa La Huancaina
CHEF RON OPYD
Sr. Corporate Chef
Ron has been with McCain Foodservice for 18 years, capping off a long culinary career that started while he was in high school.
After graduating from culinary school, Ron worked at private restaurants until joining Hyatt Hotels. He lived and worked in a number of cities, including Chicago, Washington, D.C. and Coral Gables, Florida.
He brings to McCain his love of experimentation with global flavors and watching trends closely. Plant-based foods is one trend he sees having real staying power.
It’s no longer just for vegetarian or vegan diets. It’s also used in Flexitarian Diets driven by health, sustainability and ethical concerns for treatment of animals.
His favorite dish to make at home — Papa La Huancaina — is evidence of this. A Peruvian potato dish, it’s made with sliced boiled gold potatoes topped with a chilled creamy cheese sauce made with Queso Fresco, evaporated milk, crushed crackers, garlic, avocado oil, salt and pepper blended with Aji Amarillo pepper paste, giving the sauce a golden yellow spicy kick. He finishes the dish with homemade pickled red onions.
When reflecting on what he is excited about with the upcoming generation of restaurant professionals, Ron’s love of the industry is clear.
Their enthusiasm and creativity. The restaurant industry is a demanding career, and I see them pushing culinary boundaries less bound by tradition. They tend to take on a tech-savvy, sustainable approach with diverse multicultural food and staff. With their knowledge of social media, they can reach a large audience for self-marketing customer engagement.
Chef Carol’s fast 5
IF I COULD ONLY EAT ONE FOOD FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE
Pasta — any kind, any sauceCAN’T LIVE WITHOUT
My grill. I use it year round!FAVORITE INGREDIENT
Potatoes. They’re a great canvas!CULINARY INFLUENCE
All my employees throughout my careerFAVORITE DISH TO MAKE
Dishes that were brought down from generations in my family, like my grandmother’s noodle kugel
CHEF CAROL BUCKANTZ
Corporate Chef
Chef Carol has been with McCain for more than three years. She has an extensive foodservice background, starting with joining Wyndham as an executive chef out of college. Carol also owned her own restaurant and was the executive chef/partner of Capital Grille in Schaumburg, Illinois.
One of the most rewarding points of her career was getting voted by her peers as Chef of the Year for the Meals on Wheels organization. Carol volunteered with the organization for 13 years. During her time at Indian Lakes Resort, Carol was able to work with other charity organizations.
When I worked at Indian Lakes Resort as the Executive Chef, we did an event for 500 people and I got to meet with Meryl Streep and talk for a while about her role in “Julie and Julia” when she played the role of Julia Child.
Through her work at McCain, Carol has been fortunate to continue to foster her love of the culinary arts. She is passionate about growing and giving back to the operator community. Carol also enjoys monitoring emerging trends and tracking which ones will have staying power on operators’ menus.
I feel over the last 5–6 years different global flavors have really emerged, whether it be Mediterranean, Asian (and all the different parts of Asia), Italian and so many more. Every year more and more global flavors become popular.
Chef Noel’s fast 5
LEAST FAVORITE INGREDIENT
Non-functional garnishesFAVORITE INGREDIENT
Potatoes for their versatilityCULINARY INFLUENCE
Mentors and real-world kitchen experienceCAN’T LIVE WITHOUT...
A cast iron skilletFAVORITE DISH TO MAKE
Crispy, sauce-forward dishes
CHEF NOEL SCHROEDER
Corporate Chef
Chef Noel joined McCain after working at independent restaurants, large-scale foodservice companies and in culinary education.
She applies her experience to bridging culinary creativity with operational reality — helping customers and sales partners turn great ideas into consistent, profitable menu items.
She is closely following the current lean into comfort foods with a global twist.
Guests continue to seek bold, international flavor inspiration, but they want it delivered in approachable ways — whether that’s through sauces, seasonings or toppings on recognizable menu items. This balance allows operators to innovate without increasing complexity and gives global cuisine real, long-term staying power.
This understanding of how to create classics with a twist carries through to what Chef Noel likes to create in the kitchen, as well as what she seeks out at restaurants. You’ll often find her ordering a thoughtfully executed appetizer or bar snack or small plate that showcases restraint, seasoning, texture and a clear understanding of what guests actually want to eat.
As for the future of the restaurant industry, Chef Noel is excited about the adaptability and openness the next generation brings to the table.
They’re not limited by rigid ideas of what foodservice “should” look like. They’re comfortable learning across disciplines, embracing global influences and redefining success in a way that’s more inclusive and sustainable.
