BY KAREN BOSSICK

A chef with a passion for French cuisine has accepted the position of culinary director at the Sun Valley Culinary Institute.

Chef Andrew Floyd will replace Geoff Felsenthal, who plans to retire from teaching at the end of December 2022. Felsenthal has been with the Culinary Institute since August 2021 and taught the first round of professional culinary students in the Institute’s year-long program. He also has taught the first module of the second class of professional culinary students who started in September.

“We are indebted to Geoff for his talent, time and dedication to our students and the community,” said Culinary Institute Board Chair Rick LeFaivre. “We would not be where we are today without him.”

Floyd has more than 22 years of teaching experience, as well as 12 years of restaurant cooking and 17 years of professional culinary management. He possesses an in-depth understanding of French cuisine and products with a focus on the foods and wines of Provence.

He also has extensively studied Italian and Spanish cuisine and wine and is fluent in French and Spanish with a growing understanding of Italian.

“I am excited to make Sun Valley my new home and learn about an area and region in the West that has always interested me,” said Floyd.

 Floyd, who will start Feb. 1, graduated from Indiana University and continued his education at the l’Academie de Cuisine where he graduated from its two-year professional program in Bethesda, Md. He worked at the Occidental Grill and McPhearson’s Grill and the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington, D.C. And he completed culinary food internships in France with Georges Blanc and Michel Guerard.

After moving to Crested Butte, Colo., where he worked as the sous chef at le Bosquet, he became a culinary instructor for the Culinary School of the Rockies in Boulder, Colo., where he developed an externship and internship in Provence, France, in a 12-century chateau overlooking the Cotes du Rhone Vineyards.

Floyd has also served on the International Association of Culinary Professionals, as the Culinary Demo Chair for IACP Denver and on the U.S. Potato Board Demo in Montevideo, Uruguay.

His blogs “Deep Plate” and “Lamb Before Thyme” have been received with great success.

At the Sun Valley Culinary Institute, he will oversee the professional chefs program and contribute to the food enthusiast classes. The school’s seven students are currently serving externships at Enoteca, Rasberrys, Sawtooth Club, Sun Valley Resort Catering, The Grill at Knob Hill, The Ram, Tundra and Vintage.

Students will return to the Institute in late March at the beginning of spring slack to learn baking skills before they go out to work for four more months for local restaurants.

DID YOU KNOW?

The Sun Valley Culinary Institute is accepting applications for the class of 2023/24. To learn more, visit  https://sunvalleyculinary.org/one-year-program.