PORT HURON — Thomas F. Recinella, program director and Courses Restaurant executive chef at Baker College of Port Huron’s Culinary Institute of Michigan, has been invited to become a member of the Honorable Order of the Golden Toque, the highest acclaimed recognition a chef can receive in the U.S.
Membership in the Honorable Order of the Golden Toque is limited to 100 lifetime members who have demonstrated professional attainment of high estate, abiding interest in professional progress, and devoted and distinguished service to the culinary profession and arts. Recinella’s induction ceremony will be held Saturday at Zehnder’s of Frankenmuth.
Members of the Order are chefs with at least 20 years of service who have been nominated by three active members and, after a screening process, have been granted final acceptance by the membership.
Recinella has more than 30 years of culinary and food and beverage experience, working in private clubs, fine dining restaurants, catering, banquets and culinary education. He is the founding CIM-Port Huron program director, has been the recipient of multiple industry awards for excellence in teaching, including the 2014 Sharing Culinary Traditions Award from the American Academy of Chefs and the 2003 American Culinary Federation National Educator of the Year.