Northwest native, Frank Schuchman, is the son of Geraldine “Gerry” Badda and Robert “Bob” Schuchman of Roslyn. He’s named after his grandfather Frank Badda – Superintendent of the coal mining operations in Upper Kittitas County until the mines closed.
Frank has been an Executive Chef in the State of Washington for over 35 years, specializing in French, Italian, Latin, Mediterranean, and American cuisines.
His professional background has been in the executive management of specialty restaurants, hotels and resorts. Frank can dedicate himself to small intimate dining settings to groups of several thousand. At his ski resorts he would develop, design, promote and participate in over 125 events in 21 weeks each season. He negotiated hundreds of thousands of promotional dollars with foodservice and ski related companies. He has worked with ESPN, CNN, MTV, the X-Games, Sony, Swatch, Trans World Snow Magazine, Rolling Stone magazine, Pepsi, Nabisco, Nestle, Campbell’s and many other national companies.
Equipment and clothing manufacturer promotions include: Burton, K2, Gnu, Marker, Lib Tech, Foursquare, Forum, Rusty, Roxy, Quicksilver, Vans, Marker, Billabong, and many others.
Large format beverage events included working with – Bacardi-Martini USA brands, The Seagram’s Group, Jack Daniel’s, Pendleton Whiskey, Captain Morgan’s, Guinness, Budweiser, Coors, Red Hook, Pyramid Ales, Northwest and California Microbreweries and Wineries.
He enjoys being a certified Washington State Wine Professional. He is a graduate of the certification program that promotes Washington State wineries, set up by the Washington State Wine Commission.
Frank enjoyed his years as a USDA Federal wholesale meat cutter and salesperson, then became a USDA Plant Manager: purchasing meats, seafood and custom meat cutting, importing, shipping and receiving. He is a seafood, meat and produce expert and teaches selection, purchasing and preparation.
His career is based on educating future chefs and restaurant workers about every aspect of the food & beverage industry. He is an excellent public speaker, instructor and confident in guest relations, sales, service and very versatile in developing and approaching new products, advertising and promotion.
For 35 years he has taught: specialized technical courses on food qualities, health & nutrition, food handling and safety, specialized culinary styles, menu planning, food costing, time & stress management, leadership & executive management seminars. Other areas of expertise are in equipment research, restaurant layout, building and design.
Frank was appointed to the advisory board of the Snohomish County Health Department. This was an elected appointment, a first for Snohomish County, where business members in the private sector were invited to participate in rules, regulations and policy decision making.
He is well versed in budget writing/development, cash handling, accounting, payroll, point-of-sale computer software programming, and adheres to the responsibilities associated with these security dependent departments.
For the past 18 years he has concentrated his knowledge on organic vegetable growing and sustainable farming methods. He has taught fundamental and advanced classes to the food & beverage industry and the public. He has always supported the purchasing of organic local products and services, since the mid 1970’s
Frank has recently been committing his time to educating the public on access to healthy and nutritious foods and promoting an active lifestyle. Frank is an active member of the Kittitas County Health Department groups, Shape Up Kittitas, the Food Access Coalition, Slow Food USA, the USDA “Chefs to Schools” program, and many other food activist based programs.
He is active in many other local groups promoting events and projects in the County, including the US Forest Service and Washington State Parks and Recreation. He volunteers at his local Hope Source food bank in Cle Elum and prepares “Guest Chef” meals at the soup kitchen located at the FISH food bank in Ellensburg.
Frank is actively involved in many fundraisers, events and activities throughout the year.
In 2011 he was the executive chef for the very first National Food Day. See www.foodday.org for an overview of the now annual event. Held at the Hal Holmes Community Center, the event included over 20 vendors and over 200 people attended this food based national event.
Recently received an 18 month USDA grant for the Kittitas County “Women, Infants & Children” (WIC) program. Frank he teaches introductory level organic gardening classes, backyard composting, nutritional culinary classes, home food safety and other related workshops to local young parents, residents and families.
He promotes and instructs several of the WIC classes at the Roslyn Public Library, the Roslyn Community Garden (a co-founder), at the historic Depot, Museum and Railyard in South Cle Elum and many other UKC venues. He has also held ‘kids cooking classes’ as part of the annual “Summer Reading Program” over the past 3 years.
Currently 2011-2012, the Roslyn Public Library has received a Grant – coal mining photos of Roslyn’s past…the “Frank Badda Years”.
By reading this biography you already know he is a food, nutrition & event writer for the local newspaper Northern Kittitas County Tribune. All of his of articles from the popular column “Frankly Speaking” are available upon request of the newspaper.
His current ‘Supporters and Partnerships” include: CWU, WSU ext, Public Health Dept…. to name a few of the 15 or more!
An avid “Foodie” and father to his son Wyatt, they enjoy playing baseball, hiking, camping, fishing, rock hounding, dirt bikes, skiing and snowmobiling in the northwest. Frank has been involved in Youth Sports for over 18 years, assisting and coaching Little League Baseball, Youth Soccer and Junior Football programs. Recently, Frank’s newest endeavor is learning vintage motorcycle and classic auto restoration!
Complete work history and extensive resume is available upon request.
Examples of employee manuals, recipes & menu development, organic gardening & culinary workshops, reference materials and food & media articles are available upon request.
