2019 Conference Menu

About Chef David Fransua
Originally from Denver, David encountered both the bustling city and scenic mountain areas of Colorado. Growing up with a French father and a Mexican mother, he experienced a mixture of cultures and food varieties from an early age. His first memory of cooking came from his father making him eggs for breakfast, where he discovered it was quite different from the way his mom made them. His mother made them scrambled well done; whereas his father’s eggs were runny. As this was not a pleasant experience, eight year old David struck a deal with his father. Since he was grounded at the time, he agreed to eat the eggs if he was allowed to go out and play. Today, David now cooks eggs for his children, just the way his father made for him; runny. He gives credit to his father for giving him the creativity and tenacity that he embodies in the kitchen today.

David is unique compared to many of his peers in the field today in that he received all of his training on the job, as opposed to culinary school. “The kitchen is your class room, you can learn more here than they can ever teach you in school.”  At a time in his life when he was struggling with the decision of whether or not to attend culinary school, he recalls being at a Chinese restaurant with his now wife when money was tight. The dream of culinary school was not looking realistic. As if it were fate, he then opened his fortune cookie, which stated, “Discipline is a refinement fire, in which ability becomes talent.” David and his wife took this as a sign that he would need to create his own success through experience, as opposed to traditional training in a classroom. He is an inspiration to many young cooks in the business, symbolizing that anything is possible with hard work and dedication.