“Purveyors
need patience and courage to call on large chains and high-volume
accounts — but the rewards certainly are there,” Sartain
said.
Sartain then mounted a state-of-the-art search engine to identify
major buyers by name and has planned two national conferences —
one in Chicago the day prior to the N.R.A. Show, and the fall conference
in Las Vegas at the Venetian Hotel.
Long before he directed the expansive programs of Cordon Rouge World
Society and the American Executive Leadership Conference, Jesse
Sartain had been active in a wide range of professional and personal
pursuits.
Born in Seattle and raised in Hawaii, Sartain started his career
at age eight in a professional kitchen as an apprentice to his father,
Chef Lee Edgar Sartain. At age eighteen, his father asked him not
to pursue a restaurant career because of the work demands involved.
Sartain enrolled in communications courses in college and thus a
media and marketing career was launched (with cuisine always in
the wings).
Since that humble culinary apprenticeship, he:
• Served as a State Campaign Chairman for John F. Kennedy
and Robert Kennedy while a student in Hawaii.
• Worked for CBS News as a stringer for Walter Cronkite and
performed production work for the Sinatra family as a cameraman
and director.
• Fulfilled appointments as aide-de-camp to a Governor of
Hawaii (William Quinn) and a Secretary General to the United Nations
(U. Thant).
• Served on the national staff of “Hair”, the
musical on Broadway and across eight North American cities.
• Produced ethnic music concerts and film festivals in Hawaii
including a Hawaiian music festival in a volcanic crater attended
by 20,000 islanders.
• Led the restoration project of a fifty-year old Japanese
Buddhist temple on the Big Island of Hawaii for two years. Raised
dairy goats and organic vegetables.
• Established Buddhist centers on three Hawaiian Islands.
In the process, became a student of Tenzin Gyatsho, the fourteenth
Dalai Lama of Tibet.
• Served as a Divisional Publisher for Gannett and Knight-Ridder.
• Worked as an editor for various publishers including Simon
and Schuster (New York), Trade Publishing (Honolulu) and Levin Publishing
(San Francisco).
• Coordinated the cuisine of three steak and seafood restaurants
in Hawaii as Corporate Chef of Cahoon Restaurants, Inc.
• Organized a thousand cooking classes in ten North American
cities as Culinary Director of The Cuisine Group.
• Served as National Director for Chefs in America, 1985-1993.
• Honored by Les Tocque Blanches for culinary leadership.
• Honored by the James Beard Foundation, Who’s Who American
Food & Beverage.
• Member, Order des Canardier, as designated by the French
government.
• Active member, National Press Club, Washington, D.C.
“Purveyors need patience
and courage to call on large chains and high-volume accounts —
but the rewards certainly are there,” Sartain said.
Jesse Sartain has traveled over two million miles domestically in
the last sixteen years dedicating himself to leadership and innovation
in the foodservice industry. His future goals include more international
travel on behalf of Cordon Rouge World Society and more time with
his Brazilian wife at their home on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro.
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JESSE
AT CARNEGI HALL SAYING FAREWELL TO THE AMERICAN TASTING
INSTITUTE |
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JESSE
AT HOME IN SOLANO COUNTY WITH BELOVED
WIFE ROSIMAI |
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JESSE
SARTAIN IN HIS
CHEF WHITES |
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