Chef Richard Battista, CEC, CEPC, CCE
President
Chef Battista is a Certified Executive Chef, a Certified Executive Pastry Chef, and a Certified Culinary Educator with over 33 years of experience working as a business executive, chef, author and educator. Chef Battista received his culinary training in France and Italy the old fashioned way, with five years of Apprenticeships. A graduate of Burdett College with a degree in finance, Chef Battista has worked at the Institute of California-Los Angeles as the Director of Culinary Arts, the Los Angeles Culinary Institute as its Dean, the California Culinary Academy as the Director of the Colleges of Food, the Sheraton Corporation and the Ritz-Carlton Hotels as Executive Pastry Chef, the Fairmont Hotel chain as Food and Beverage Director, Watertown School System as a Chef Instructor, and LaBrioche Restaurant chain as Executive Chef. Chef Battista has won numerous culinary awards, including the Grand Prize by the Culinaire Philanthropique of New York. He is the former President and Chairman of the Board of the American Culinary Federation-Los Angeles. He is also the author of the anticipated forthcoming book, Food and Wine Pairings. His vast experience has prepared Chef Battista well for the demands of opening and successfully operating an institution such as the Professional Culinary Institute, and his passion for the school and its students is a key ingredient to its success.
Chef Bo Friberg, CMPC
Baking and Pastry Department Chair
Chef Bo Friberg is a certified Master Pastry Chef with over 40 years of professional experience in the industry. Chef Bo (as he is known to his students) graduated from the Confectionery Association School of Sweden and holds a degree as a Master Confectioner. He has worked in both intimate bakeries and large retail and wholesale operations in the United States and Europe, and was a Pastry Chef for Swedish American Lines Cruise Ships. In addition, he has demonstrated his pastry artistry on television shows including the two highly acclaimed public television series Cooking Secrets of the CIA, and Cooking at The Academy, as well as NBC's Today Show and the locally produced Bay Cafe.
Chef Friberg has taught baking and pastry courses to all levels of students - from beginners to seasoned professionals - since 1978. Chef Friberg spent nearly 20 years teaching at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, where he was part of the school's opening faculty team. In 1995, he was selected as a member of the start-up teaching group for The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in the Napa Valley, where he served as Chef Instructor.
Chef Friberg has received numerous awards and honors for his work in Europe and in the United States. He has been awarded gold medals on two occasions at the American Culinary Federation's Culinary Arts Exhibit of the Pacific Coast. Chef Friberg's celebrated cookbook The Professional Pastry Chef, now revised to its Fourth Edition, has become the standard-bearer for professional chefs and students alike in the Baking & Pastry industry. His most recent book, The Advanced Professional Pastry Chef, was the recipient of the 2004 IACP Cookbook Award. Chef Friberg is also a member of the Advisory Board for PastryScoop.com.
Chef Randy Torres
Culinary Arts Department Chair / Student Team Manager
Chef Randy Torres is an exciting addition to PCI's winning team. Chef Torres comes to the Professional Culinary Institute from Bear Creek Golf Club in Southern California, where he has been the Executive Chef for the past five years.
Chef Torres received his formal training and an Advanced Certificate from Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, California, where he has served as a faculty member in the Culinary Program since 1999. Not only has Chef Torres excelled in some of the top country club and hotel kitchens in the country, his impressive record in Culinary Competitions really sets him apart as a star chef and instructor. He won his first Culinary Diploma at the Palm Springs Culinary Salon in 1995. Since then, he has won a Bronze Medal, eight Silver Medals, and two Gold Medals, in competitions across the country. He is currently Team Captain for the Western Region Culinary Olympics Team, with whom he won Gold and Silver Medals in the 2000 Olympic competitions.
As team manager at Orange Coast College, Chef Torres's squads have been Hot Food Category Champions in California State Competitions five years in a row, and have won three out of five Gold Medals at the Western Regional Conference Competition. We're proud and honored to have him on staff.
David Glancy, MS, CWE
Sommelier Program Department Chair
The Certified Sommelier Program at PCI is the brainchild of Master Sommelier David Glancy,
MS
, CWE. David Glancy is one of only 76 Americans (and only 142 people worldwide) to have earned the elite title of Master Sommelier (MS) from the London based Court of Master Sommeliers. He is a member of the Washington, DC based Society of Wine Educators, winning the 2003 Wine Appreciation Guild Award.
During his more than 20 years in the industry, he has worked for some of the largest hotels and food companies in the world, from the Marriott and Hyatt hotels, to Spectrum Food and the Kimpton Group. He has been involved in both front and back of house operations, and has managed restaurants and played a key role in several restaurant openings.
David's wine expertise has been solicited by nearly every institution and media outlet imaginable. His work with restaurants has been recognized through Wine Spectator and Restaurant Hospitality Magazine awards, as well as in glowing critical reviews in the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner, and numerous other publications.
Prior to joining PCI, David was a wine and business instructor at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco.
