WOMEN’s HISTORY MONTH 2022
CELEBRATING WOMEN: CHEF’S DINNER
Katee McLean
Performance food service
Chef Katee McLean has always loved the Culinary Arts, a talent she comes by naturally and inherited from many family members. While McLean initially attended University Of Missouri for a degree in Food Science, she soon realized her passion was more aligned for a chef’s coat, rather than a lab coat. While researching Culinary Schools, she realized Johnson County Community College had a top rated Culinary Arts Program. McLean excelled in the program and was honored to be selected on the competitive culinary team, earning awards in Hong Kong and Singapore.
Loving all cultures of food, McLean began to think of her own Swedish heritage. Armed with determination, passion, and many mentors along the way, her journey into restaurant ownership began. Paying homage to her heritage, she opened Krokstrom and Vildhast. During her five year entrepreneurship, McLean earned Kansas City Chef of the Year and Restaurant of the Year along with numerous local and national media appearances including Food Network’s popular show “Diners, Drive Ins and Dives”.
McLean is a bold advocate for women and minorities in the business, attending numerous conferences local and nationally for the betterment of the work environment. Always excited and passionate about the overall goodness of food, McLean is involved in many projects in her community, including collaboration dinners benefiting local charities, distributing fresh fruit and vegetables to food deserts, and she is an active member in the local chapter of Les dames d’escoffier.
McLean remains eager to consult, mentor and encourage chefs and restaurant owners in the city, which has been a natural progression to her new career at Performance Foodservice, where her skills in culinary consulting can be shared with her clients daily.
Favorite Quote:
You want to keep things on an even key, this is what I'm saying. You want to go with the flow. The sea refuses no river. The idea is to remain in a state of constant departure while always arriving. It saves on introductions and goodbyes. The ride does not require explanation - just occupants. That's where you guys come in. It's like you come onto this planet with a crayon box. Now you may get the 8 pack, you may get the 16 pack but it's all in what you do with the crayons - the colors - that you're given. Don't worry about coloring within the lines or coloring outside the lines - I say color outside the lines, you know what I mean? Color all over the page; don't box me in! We're in motion to the ocean. We are not land locked, I'll tell you that.
- Bill Wise, Waking life