Distinguished Visiting Chef Russell Bry Returns to Penn College

Russell Bry, executive chef/partner of Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, Inc. and a former Distinguished Visiting Chef at Pennsylvania College of Technology, will return to the College this month to offer a Masters Class for faculty and students in the School of Hospitality.

Bry, who was a Visiting Chef at Penn College in March 1999, will offer the three-hour staff-development session Tuesday, April 16. Bry will teach participants how to make fresh mozzarella and his acclaimed gnocchi, which won the Food Arts Cookoff at the 2001 National Restaurant Association international convention in Chicago.

At LEYE, Bry works in the company's corporate and restaurant kitchens, developing innovative food concepts and menus for many of the company's more recent restaurants.

A Chicago resident and native, Bry started in the food industry as a dishwasher at age 12. In his teen years, he worked as a cook in a number of restaurant kitchens in the city. Bry's culinary credentials include studies at Triton College's Food Service Program, the Ritz Carlton Hotel, Restaurant Byron, Tango, Bastille, George's and Sweetwater.

At LEYE, Bry's most recent project was to bring a unique Italian concept to the Oak Brook, Ill., restaurant Antico Posto ("The Old Spot"), which showcases his passion for Italian cooking and simple preparation using authentic, seasonal ingredients.

For more information about the culinary programs at Penn College, call the School of Hospitality at (570) 327-4505, or visit online.