Chef Edward Leonard Brings Culinary Pride to the Table

Leonard recently won the 2021 ACF Innovation award for Culinary Arts, and was honored in September with the Culinary Excellence Award for Outstanding Executive Chef and Leadership for “Private Golf or Country Clubs” at the third annual Golf Kitchen Culinary Excellence Awards at Glen Arbor Golf Club in Bedford Hills, NY.

The distinguished chef spent 13 years with the leading British hotel and catering company, Trusthouse Forte, which allowed him to travel the globe. While based in New York City, Leonard held such positions as Corporate Chef of North America, Director of Operations, Vice President and Executive Vice President. TrustHouse properties consisted of Hotel Plaza Athénée and The Westbury in Manhattan, The Watergate in Washington D.C., and high-end dining rooms for corporations like National Westminster Bank, General Electric and American Express.

He spent eight plus years with the famed Westchester Country Club & Hotel. During his tenure there, Chef put the resort’s culinary program on the map — locally and globally. Soon after, Westchester Country Club became the 12th ranked platinum club in the country.

Leonard made a big impact within the industry and with students as Vice President of Culinary Academics for Le Cordon Bleu North America, where he oversaw 14,000 students in 16 colleges. He has developed the restaurant concept called Technique, which was a capstone class at 13 of the colleges. He is presently at Fresh Meadow Country Club and is a trusted training partner for Kopplin Kuebler & Wallace with his Culinary Pride program.