MARK SOBCZAK

Senior Corporate Chef

Mark Sobczak thrives on the fast pace and excitement that his job at Kraft Foodservice delivers. As a senior corporate chef, he provides creative development and menu consultation to customers. Transferring his culinary passion to their menus is what motivates him.

Chef Sobczak calls himself a meathead. He is steeped in the old-school traditions of charcuterie and excels at modernizing those traditions for today's foodservice. A former inventory control specialist for the United States Air Force, he provides Kraft customers with a wealth of knowledge on proteins, but he also shares with them that intangible passion for butchery and deli operations.

His culinary expertise and unrelenting drive to capture the essence of an operation's menu earns him respect among both his colleagues and customers.

Born: December. 14, 1966

Home: Arlington Heights, Illinois

Education: AAS in culinary arts from Kendall College, Evanston, Ill.; Certificate of Completion from Gilbert/Robinson Hospitality Management Program, Schaumburg, Ill.; Honorable Discharge United States Air Force—inventory control specialist, Lowry Technical Training Center, Denver, Colorado

Employment: I started at Kraft in January of 2008. Previously, I was R & D manager and corporate chef at Vienna Beef in Chicago.

1st job in foodservice: Working for my father in our Polish deli/butcher shop and full-service catering business in Chicago. I cleaned the grease traps and swept the sawdust off the floor.

Greatest accomplishments: My 16 plus-year marriage to my wife, Amy, and our two beautiful kids, Sam and Mary.

Favorite dish to cook at home: For dinner, it's a pepper-encrusted beef brisket with a sweet and spicy barbecue sauce. My favorite snack is a bowl of Honey Maid graham crackers covered with milk—just like cereal, but better.

Favorite cookbook: I love Café Beaujolais (Ten Speed Press, 1985), a book about a privately owned restaurant in California. It tells the story behind the restaurant, sharing recipes and anecdotes from daily life there.

Most rewarding part of my job: I get a great deal of satisfaction out of taking my kids into franchises that we've helped. To see the look on their faces when they order something that their dad had a role in—and that they really enjoy eating. That's wonderful to me.

The two or three people from history (living or dead) with whom I would most like to have dinner: Any one of our founding fathers! I'd love to discuss modern food with them. Or Mike Rowe from "Dirty Jobs" on the Discovery Channel—I could get him to clean the dishes after I cook! Oh, and Walter Payton because of his tremendous work ethic.

Sound byte: "My goal in life is to totally please and indulge."

See what our other chefs are cooking up at Kraft Foodservice