Dan Coudreaut

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Dan Coudreaut (born November 8, 1965), is the Executive Chef and Vice President of Culinary Innovation at McDonald's, since he joined the restaurant chain in 2004.

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Biography

Coudreaut started his culinary career at the age of 14, washing dishes in a local restaurant in his hometown of Ossining, New York, a town located an hour north of New York City. In 1995, he graduated at the top of his class from the Culinary Institute of America (CIA).

Culinary career

After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America, Coudreaut was hired as executive sous chef at Café Pacific before moving on to become the club chef at the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts both of which are in Dallas, Texas. In 2000, he moved to the field of chain restaurants, joining Metromedia Company's Ponderosa Steakhouse and Bonanza Family Steakhouse chains as director of culinary product development. He joined McDonald's in 2004, taking over as Executive Chef from Rene Arend. As Executive Chef, Coudreaut's main responsibility is helping the creative team of chefs to create concepts and develop new menus for McDonald's approximately 36,900 outlets by brainstorming and testing hundreds of menu items each month.

Accomplishments

Coudreaut's accomplishments have been recognized through many honors and accolades throughout his career, including being listed among the NRN 50:R&D Culinarians by Nation's Restaurant News in 2003. In 2006, he received the magazine's Chef/Innovator MenuMasters Award.

He also sang lead vocals in Chef Dan and the Appetizers, a classic rock band formed by McDonald's employees in 2008 to raise money for Ronald McDonald Charities.