Chris Dwyer, CCE, ACE, AAC

Twist Master

Chef Chris Dwyer was ideal when tapped to join the Indian Harvest Culinary Team because he was already a dedicated, longtime customer—a true believer in the goodness of the company’s unique grains, beans, legumes and blends. Guests at prestigious hotels and inns where Chef Chris has served as executive chef delighted in the wholesome goodness of Indian Harvest products in everything from banquet specialties to vegetarian options for in-room dining.

“I used them daily because they’re great products, formulated to meet the demands of my busy production kitchen,” he says. “But even more important, their distinctive flavors and nutritional richness are what my customers demanded.”

Today the corporate chef of Catalyst Community Partners, Chef Chris directs a plethora of projects that include a new café, catering operation, coffee shop and incubator kitchen—part of a mission to revitalize distressed Minneapolis and St. Paul neighborhoods by creating sustainable local enterprises that meet community needs and provide neighborhood jobs. In so doing, he capitalizes on his extensive training and experience in all major world and American regional cuisines, as well as his specialized knowledge of kosher, vegan and other dietary restrictions. Chef Chris’ breadth of culinary and management skills coupled with his ingenuity in pleasing a diverse clientele makes him an integral part of the Indian Harvest Culinary Team.

As an example of his culinary prowess, Chef Chris excels at “twisting” favorite dishes that already benefit from broad appeal. Take classic rice pudding: By incorporating an exotic element, in this case Tinawon Fancy Rice—an Eighth Wonder rice harvested from the rice terraces of the northern Philippines—Chef Chris gives a cherished dessert a nuttier flavor and popcorn-like aroma, bringing an element of surprise to the everyday.

Chef Chris has held leadership positions with the American Culinary Federation both in his home state of Minnesota and nationally throughout his long career. He’s certified by the ACF as an executive chef and approved as a certification evaluator. He belongs to ACF’s exclusive honor society, the American Academy of Chefs. A teacher to the core, Chef Chris brings to the Indian Harvest Culinary Team his grassroots sensibility as a seasoned professional peppered with a culinary explorer’s desire to discover the next “big thing” on the plate.

And the greatest source of his passion as a chef? “Knowing that everyone wants to do
what I do!”

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