Dan Coudreaut (born November 8, 1965) is an American chef. He was the
executive chef and vice president of culinary innovation at
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...
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
* Ossin ...
. In 1995, he graduated at the top of his class from the
Culinary Institute of America.
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, 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 ...
.
In 2000, he moved to the field of chain restaurants, joining
Metromedia Company's Ponderosa Steakhouse 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 area in 1967 and across the United States in 1968. It is one of the company's flagship products and sign ...
. 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
Pento ...
'' 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