RICHARD ARAKELIAN

Vice President, Culinary and Service Development, Sodexo North America; Morris Township, NJ

Richard Arakelian is the national executive chef for Sodexo Corporate Services. A graduate of The Culinary Institute of America, Chef Arakelian has been in the industry since 1975. After graduating from the CIA, he began his career on the West Coast in Southern California fine restaurants and private dinner cruise yachts. His career with Sodexo (then Gardner Merchant) began in 1983 as a chef for a New York City law firm. He then moved on to become executive chef for many of Sodexo’s clients’ executive dining rooms in New York City. In 1996 he was promoted to area executive chef and then to culinary and marketing director of the New York region before moving to his current position in 2002. (Morris Township, NJ)