Chef Shawn Kohlhaas, a seasoned 30 year veteran of the food service industry, has been leading the way in new and fresh approaches in the culinary field. His passions have been in farm-to-table initiatives with an emphasis on local organic and sustainable practices.
At age 20, Shawn apprenticed under Master Chef Karl Wenzel and quickly absorbed the nature of the restaurant culture found along the eastern seaboard. Shortly after, Shawn and his father founded and created the Mountain Creek Tavern Restaurant. For seven years they masterfully executed a fine dining experience in a country setting with a menu focused on local and indigenous ingredients.
After selling the business, Shawn moved on to be the Food Consultant of Lowe’s Foods. There, he sharpened his retail knowledge until he was offered the prestigious position of Executive Chef for NASCAR. Here, he was responsible for the dining needs of all officials and executives on the NASCAR circuit. This opportunity challenged him to source everything from linens and china to food and localized specialty items for races which were in different locations every week.
Shawn moved to Grand Rapids, MI in 2004 where he found a new frontier in food culture. He quickly became the Regional Culinary Services Manager for the Unidine Corporation. With Unidine, he helped guide many culinary aspects for over 180 food service accounts from small retirement communities to multi-conceptual hospitals. He was able to institute high sanitation standards from his extensive training as a ServSafe Instructor and Proctor.
Currently:
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Main Principal and Lead Consultant for Culinary Cultivations.
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President for the Greater Grand Rapids American Culinary Federation
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Chairman of the food safety advisory board for the Kent County Health Department
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Host of The Local Feed show on WYCE 88.1 FM Grand Rapids MI
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One of 20 instructors of over 10,000 instructors to help develop the Servsafe materials and program
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Culinary Chair of the West Michigan March of Dimes Signature Chefs Charity Event
Awards
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2013 ACF Professional Chef of the Year for Grand Rapids
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2014 ACF Chef of the Year for Grand Rapids
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2016 GRAPE Award for Excellence in the Culinary Field for The Grand Rapids Area Professionals for Excellence
Melissa Atkinson- Director of Staffing Services/FOH and Private Events Consultant
For 20 years, Melissa has been active in all aspects of the food service industry. She has a passion developing company cultures and building solid teams by creating team member investment in company success and culture. She has an unmatched drive and determination to develop and improve operational systems within food service establishments and that passion is apparent in all of her work, whether that be for her employer companies or client companies she works with on consulting projects.
Beginning with her first job in high school as a hostess at Crystal Springs Country Club, through the growth and development of the Anna’s House Restaurant chain as Vice President of Restaurant Operations, and finally in the growth and development of the Culinary Cultivations Event Staffing Team, Melissa has a true passion and commitment to the food and beverage industry.
Her first management position came about in 2000 when she was made beverage and concessions manager for Crystal Springs at only 19 years old. She held many positions there from banquet server to bartender and gained a love and appreciation for the service industry. After moving to Grand Rapids for college in 2001, Melissa left the country club to gain experience in a full-service restaurant setting at Cheers Goodtime Saloon. Melissa was promoted to Front of the House Supervisor in 2003 and continued to develop her management skills over the next several years.
After Cheers, Melissa applied at the growing Anna’s House Restaurant’s East Beltline location for part-time work during an accelerated class load in college. This quickly became a full-time management position which turned into the District Manager position within a year and then another promotion to Vice President of Operations. During this time, Melissa opened three locations as General Manager while still fulfilling her role as District Manager, executed many operations development projects, focused herself on team and culture building and staff training for that newly emerging company.
Melissa parted ways with Anna’s House in early 2017 to focus on family and to seek new ventures in the food and beverage industry. Melissa had worked with the Culinary Cultivations team during her time at Anna’s House and through a mutual love of the industry, developed a strong professional relationship with the company. This led to her joining the Culinary Cultivations team as Events Field Manager in May of 2017, presenting her with the challenge of cultivating an even stronger team of Event Staffing Team Members and developing new and updated operational systems for the growth of that company branch.
After becoming the main contact and liaison for our staffing clients and team members for all staffing, the event staffing team and client relationships flourished, resulting in her promotion in 2018 to Director of Staffing Services. Melissa is also the lead FOH consultant for our clients in need of operations development and/or training in restaurant, bar and catering industries.
Melissa’s commitment to Culinary Cultivations, our team members and our clients is the reason that in 2019, she became an official company partner. Her understanding of our business and the people who support our business are invaluable to building our company culture and the quality of service we provide.
Penny Rimer- Event Staffing Manager
For the past ten years Penny has been dedicated to surrounding herself with inspirational mentors. Her inspiration was sparked when she first immersed herself with experienced educators who taught her that an open mindset, vulnerability, communication and the ability to manage conflict productively, are key tools in creating an environment that promotes personal and professional growth. After discovering this passion, she took the initiative to place herself in situations that built her knowledge in advocacy, special education, inclusiveness and diversity.
During this journey of self-development and growth, Penny had to make the tough decision to step away from the education system. Although she had minimal experience in the hospitality industry, she was drawn to Main Street Ventures restaurant group by their high standards in ethics, professionalism and commitment to exceed guest’s expectations.
After intense training to begin her career in the food and beverage industry, she began working alongside management who thrived by providing an environment that was inclusive and encouraged growth. She desired the ability the play a larger role in the industry and in-turn, sought to learn all aspects of the industry. During her time with Main Street Ventures, she made a point to help her co-workers advocate for themselves by initiating tough conversations that resulted in productive results. She also received a company Merit Award for creating a system for daily and weekly sanitation for Front of the House staff. Her system provided clear expectations that improved the effectiveness of daily side work and provided documentation which resulted in holding staff accountable.
At this time Penny felt that it was necessary to make a move forward in the industry. After she learned about Culinary Cultivations, she knew the company was a perfect place to utilize the skills she had gained, while continuing to grow and learn. Joining the company as a server in late 2017, Penny's role quickly grew. With her quality of service and attention to detail, combined with her ability to promote positivity and to productively communicate with other team members and clients, it was natural for her to join the Culinary Cultivations corporate team as the Event Field Manager in 2018. During this time, she provided guidance, and unmatched leadership to our team in the field, as well as spent time in the corporate office learning the systems used for staffing management from a company perspective.
As the staffing team grew and flourished, Penny began spending more of her time supporting Melissa, the Director of Staffing Services, in an administrative role in the company office and was then promoted to Event Staffing Manager in May of 2019. She plays an essential role in building and supporting our amazing and diverse team of front and back of the house professionals, as well as supporting our clients in their staffing needs. Penny is the backbone of our staffing team and her compassion and passion to see other succeed is unmatched.
On a more personal level, Penny is an intentionally optimistic potlucker, who spends her spare time challenging the current education system's culture and advocating for social education for students and their families. She is inspired daily by her two amazing children, advocates, educators and leaders. Penny is dedicated to continuing her growth by consciously seeking out experienced mentors and taking every opportunity to learn. In Penny's world, expectations are clear, conflict is productive and kindness truly matters.
For over 10 years, Sarah has been working for small businesses, running their offices in a multitude of capacities. In 2016, she decided to start her own business and dived headfirst into any side job she could find to fund this venture. Once she was ready to go full-time with her business, this led her to her first catering serving experience and she was immediately hooked.
After six months, she launched her bookkeeping company part-time and took an office position at a catering company to fill the rest of her time. Very quickly, Sarah realized that the catering industry was her passion and that was the direction her career path was headed towards.
Since then, she’s gained a wealth of experience, both in the field and in the office. After a few years the stars aligned and Sarah accepted the Office Manager position at Culinary Cultivations. Sarah not only manages our office administration; she also provides leadership in the field to our staffing team members and is an experienced and valuable asset to our clients when working in the field for their events.
Most recently, Sarah has taken on the role of Hiring and Recruitment Manager for the Event Staffing Team and has proved to be a critical piece of our team’s growth and development. In the upcoming 2020 season, she will also be providing Private Event consultation and management of our Private Event requests.
When not working Sarah spends her time with her boyfriend and their blended family of four kids. Not one to sit around, Sarah also fills her time cooking, canning, creating new cocktails, kayaking, at a concert, hosting a dinner party, or any new venture that pops up.
Chef Vanessa has been a part of the culinary industry for over a decade. She earned her degree in Culinary Arts from Baker College. Growing up in a small farm town north of Grand Rapids and spending every Sunday at her grandparents surrounded by her entire family she learned that food and family go great together. Being in the kitchen and with her family has always been her happy place.
After completing her degree, she has worked in several kitchens in the Grand Rapids area, including Kent Country Club and Thousand Oaks Golf Club as a banquet chef. In 2013 she accepted a position on Mackinac Island as the Sous Chef for The Island House Hotel. Once she came back to the Grand Rapids area she took a cook position at Brewery Vivant in and in a short period of time was promoted to lead and then accepted the position as Sous Chef. During her time at Brewery Vivant they won the Michigan Grown Michigan Great Award for setting and meeting a goal of 50% of our food inputs from Michigan. Vanessa treasures and values the importance of purchasing local goods and was a wonderful opportunity in helping to achieve the goal.
In January 2020 Vanessa accepted a position with Culinary Cultivations as Chef Consultant / Instructor. Chef Vanessa brings her organizational skills and wealth of kitchen knowledge to the corporate office support team in managing the food safety program and other projects.
When Vanessa is not busy running a kitchen or instructing she spends her time cooking dinner and enjoying a glass of bourbon with her fiance, and chasing their pup down country trails and enjoying Mother Nature in any way, shape or form. They love to travel, camp and spend time out on the Silver Lake Dunes with their Jeeps!
Jenn Fillenworth has worked in the food service industry for the past 12 years in several different positions. It was during her first job as a dishwasher for Bill’s Family Restaurant in Grand Rapids, MI that she fell in love with the industry. Her passion for food and nutrition led her to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in dietetics from Michigan State University. Following graduation, she completed a dietetic internship through Michigan State to earn her Registered Dietitian credential. After completion of her internship, she worked as a clinical dietitian specializing in the ketogenic diet for adults with Epilepsy.
During her time at Michigan State, she worked as a Food Service Assistant at Hope Network and was responsible for all meal preparation for the residents. Many of the residents had specific dietary needs and Jenn realized how beneficial it could be to be both a Registered Dietitian and a chef. She recently pursued her dream and started a culinary arts program at the Secchia Institute for Culinary Education and also graduated from Central Michigan University with her Master’s in human nutrition.
Over the past few years, she has made multiple appearances on ABC, NBC, and Fox-affiliated television stations presenting recipes and nutrition tips to viewers. Recently, she has been working as a nutrition ambassador for the United Dairy Industry of Michigan. Grand Rapids locals can catch her blogging about local restaurants and chefs on GRNow.com
Over the past year, Jenn was spotlighted as a “Dietitian of the Month” by the Michigan Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, served as a mixed pairing judge at the Grand Rapids International Wine, Beer, and Food Festival, and had an original recipe published in the Siggi’s dairy Cookbook.
Jenn looks forward to bringing both a culinary and nutrition background to Culinary Cultivations.
Alysia Forbush is a graphic designer and photographer with a passion for designing detailed, creative and modern graphics. She attended Ferris State University, where she received an associate’s degree in graphic design, along with a certificate in direct marketing and a bachelor’s degree in advertising/integrated marketing communications.
Alysia has taken the skills she learned at Ferris State and applied them to many projects for local businesses. She has created logos for the Newaygo County Silent Observer program, Preston Defense and Lean on Me Fitness, a personal trainer company.
Marketing materials such as posters, banners and even t-shirt designs focusing on companies are also part of her repertoire. Alysia has worked to create designs for Northeastern University banners, brochures for Ferris State University’s annual DECA conference, and t-shirts advertising Ferris State’s College of Business.
Alysia brings her passion and skills to the Culinary Consultations team, joining as the new graphic designer. She has created brochures and magazine advertisements for the company, and will be working in the future to support our clients’ graphic design needs.
Ryan, originally from Port Hueneme, CA, grew up in a food-loving household, always wanting to be a chef and open his own restaurant one day. His father encouraged him to try all kinds of food from all over the world, and learn as much as he could about “anything and everything.” Ryan credits this for his go-to attitude; and considers himself a jack-of-all-trades, able to do mostly anything he puts his mind to.
He got his first job in the food service industry at 16 and through the years has worked every position in a restaurant - from server to cook to manager. Today, Ryan is still on the journey to open his own restaurant and, “loving every minute of it!” In 2019, Ryan joined the Culinary Cultivations team and brought his passion and extensive food service knowledge!
When off the clock, Ryan spends his time with his wonderful wife and their 2 dogs. Together, Ryan and his wife love to travel, cook, create recipes, and eat foods from all over the world. Their favorite is Indian and they want to visit India someday; they hope that their paths, “pave the way to owning our own restaurant.”