Dan Coudreaut (born November 8, 1965) is an American chef. He was the

executive chef A chef de cuisine (, French for ''head of kitchen'') or head chef is a chef that leads and manages the kitchen and chefs of a restaurant or hotel. A chef patron (feminine form ''chef patronne'') (French for ''boss chef'') or executive chef is ...

and vice president of culinary innovation at

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

from 2004 to 2018.

Biography

Coudreaut started his culinary career at the age of 14, washing dishes in a local restaurant in his hometown of

Ossining, New York Ossining may refer to: * Ossining (town), New York, a town in Westchester County, New York state *Ossining (village), New York, a village in the town of Ossining * Ossining High School, a comprehensive public high school in Ossining village * Ossi ...

. In 1995, he graduated at the top of his class from the

Culinary Institute of America Culinary arts are the cuisine arts of food preparation, cooking and presentation of food, usually in the form of meals. People working in this field – especially in establishments such as restaurants – are commonly called chefs or ...

Culinary career

After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America, Coudreaut was hired as executive sous chef at Café Pacific before becoming the club chef at the

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts Four Seasons Hotels Limited, trading as Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, is an international luxury hotel and resort company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Four Seasons currently operates more than 100 hotels and resorts worldwide.Da ...

, both of which are in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

. In 2000, he moved to the field of chain restaurants, joining Metromedia Company's

Ponderosa Steakhouse Ponderosa Steakhouse and Bonanza Steakhouse are a chain of buffet/steakhouse restaurants that are a part of Homestyle Dining LLC based in Plano, Texas. Its menu includes steaks, seafood, and chicken entrées, all of which come with their buffe ...

and Bonanza Family Steakhouse chains as director of culinary product development. He joined McDonald's in 2004, taking over as executive chef from Rene Arend. As executive chef, Coudreaut's main responsibility was helping the creative team of chefs to create concepts and develop new menus for McDonald's approximately 36,900 outlets. In 2012, he released a YouTube video revealing the recipe of the special sauce for the

Big Mac The Big Mac is a hamburger sold by the international fast food restaurant chain McDonald's. It was introduced in the Greater Pittsburgh Region, Greater Pittsburgh area in 1967 and across the United States in 1968. It is one of the company's fl ...

. He left the company in 2018.

Accomplishments

Coudreaut has been listed among the NRN 50:R&D Culinarians by ''

Nation's Restaurant News ''Nation's Restaurant News'' (''NRN'') is an American trade publication, founded in 1967, that covers the foodservice industry, including restaurants, restaurant chains, operations, marketing, and events. It was owned by Penton Media (acquired by ...

'' in 2003. In 2006, he received the magazine's Chef/Innovator MenuMasters Award. He also sang lead vocals in Chef Dan and the Appetizers, a classic rock band formed by McDonald's employees in 2008 to raise money for Ronald McDonald Charities.

Menu contributions

Coudreaut was responsible for the addition of several items to McDonald's national menu, including: * Asian and Southwest Chicken Salads * Angus and Chicken Snack Wraps * Angus Burger sandwich line * McCafe coffee drinks * Oatmeal * Real Fruit Smoothie beverages * Spicy Premium Chicken sandwich

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Coudreaut, Dan 1965 births American business executives American chefs American male chefs Culinary Institute of America alumni Living people McDonald's people People from Ossining, New York