RCA Board Member Representative

Chef Dianna Fricke, CRC, CWPC

Executive Chef, Research & Development

Dianna has blended her passion for baking, cooking and science into a Research and Development Chef career. Starting as an intern with the J.R. Simplot Company in 1997, she has built her career becoming the Simplot Executive Chef, Research & Development in 2007. The preceding ten years, she had experience including college and university foodservice, bakeries, fine dining and catering. She has obtained her culinary credentials from Western Culinary Institute in Portland, Oregon where she was one of only a few women attending fifteen years ago. To further her education, Dianna also has a B.S. with honors in Nutrition and Dietetics from Idaho State University, Pocatello.

Earning the title Certified Working Pastry Chef from the American Culinary Federation in 1999, she remains an active member of her local chapter. She was the first woman chapter president of the Idaho Chefs de Cuisine and currently presides as the past president and certification chair. Chef Dianna was the first woman to receive her Certified Research Chef credentials from the Research Chefs Association, while actively participating in the Women Chefs and Restaurateurs and Women’s Foodservice Forum professional organizations. Dianna has been privileged to serve as a Board Member for the RCA since 2008 serving as the co-chair to the Public Relations Committee, on the Membership Committee and most recently as Board Liaison RCA Certification Commission.

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