Welcome to our family of fellow culinarians within the Houston and surrounding areas. Our main goal is to promote a professional image through the education of culinarians of all levels, from apprentices to the more skillful masters.

Founded in 1994, by a handful of chefs, the PCAH has steadily grown and remained a viable chapter of the ACF due to the steadfast support of our dedicated members.

We service our membership through coordinating events such as fundraisers for scholarships; social events for networking; educational seminars to enhance current culinary knowledge and skills; and other related meetings and gatherings.

If you are interested in joining or require further information regarding the chapter, please contact me via e-mail at kristofer_jakob@yahoo.com

Membership Chair

Kristofer Jakob

            Section 1.  Eligibility.  ACF membership shall be open to Culinarians and other individuals engaged in the culinary profession and allied employment who meet the requirements set forth in Section 2.  Culinarians refers to professional chefs, cooks and bakers engaged in (a)  food and beverage planning, preparation, service or supervision in commercial kitchens, hotels, clubs, restaurants, schools and other institutions; (b)  culinary education;  (c)  culinary research, development or testing; or (d)  other culinary employment. 

            Section 2.  Categories of Membership.  There shall be nine categories of ACF membership as follows:

                        (a) Junior Culinarian. A Junior Culinarian shall be a high school student between 16 and 18 years of age. Junior Culinarians shall have no vote.

(b) Student Culinarians.  A Student Culinarian shall be a person that is involved in the culinary profession and have fewer than two years work experience at the time of joining.  A Student Culinarian shall be a student enrolled in a post-secondary culinary education program, or a registered apprentice as defined by the ACF apprenticeship training program.  A Student Culinarian shall have no vote in any electoral proceedings of the ACF.  Student Culinarian membership shall be subject to a lifetime limit of four years.

(c) Culinarians.  A Culinarian shall be individuals including line cooks, bakers, pastry cooks or other culinarian not involved in the management or supervision of the respective property with a minimum of 6 months full time employment.  A Culinarian shall be pursuing on-the-job training and experience necessary to advance to the membership level of Professional Culinarian.  A Culinarian shall have one-half (1/2) vote in any electoral proceedings of the ACF.  A  Culinarian membership shall be subject to a lifetime limit of five years.

(d) Professional Culinarians.  A Professional Culinarian shall be a person with at least three years full-time employment in the culinary profession.  A Professional Culinarian shall have one vote in the election of national officers and at-large directors.  This membership category shall include all National Honorary and National Life Members, provided that members voted to National Honorary Membership from the Professional Culinarian Category shall retain their voting privileges and eligibility for office.  Otherwise, a National Honorary Member shall not have voting rights and shall not be eligible to hold national office. 

(e) Senior Professional Culinarians.  A Senior Member shall be a person at least 65 years of age, retired from employment and who shall have been an ACF Professional Culinarian member for a minimum of ten (10) consecutive years at the time of retirement.  Regardless of age, a member with at least seven (7) years tenure in any category who is permanently and totally disabled from culinary employment shall be eligible for Life Senior Professional Culinarian membership.  Senior Professional Culinarians shall retain the rights and privileges of the membership category from which they retired, including the right (if any) to vote for national officers and at-large directors.  Senior Culinarians cannot hold elected national office.  This membership category shall include all Retired Disabled and Life Senior Chef members.

(f) Associate Member.  An Associate Member shall be a representative of a group, company or corporation providing products or services to the culinary profession.  Associate Members shall have no voting rights and cannot hold elected national office. 

(g) Allied Member.  An Allied Member shall be a person employed in a field related to the culinary profession (such as dietetics, home economist, food stylist, etc.) who does not qualify at any level of professional membership of the ACF.  Additionally, any person who wishes to support and promote the ACF and culinary profession may become an Allied Member.  Allied Members shall have no voting rights and cannot hold elected national office.

(h) Culinary Enthusiast Member.  A Culinary Enthusiast Member shall be a person of the general non-food professional community that has a passion for the culinary arts.  A Culinary Enthusiast Member shall have no voting privileges.  A Culinary Enthusiast Member cannot hold elected national office. 

(i) National Member. The National Membership Category may include all levels of membership as defined and stated in the ACF Bylaws.  This category is designated for potential members that are located overseas and cannot take advantage of attending a chapter meeting / function.  National Membership within the United States shall be designated “National Membership Status.” Chapter membership is encouraged over National membership whenever possible.  A National Member shall have all voting privileges as reflective of his or her membership level and shall be eligible to vote only in the National election.  An ACF National Member residing within the United States and its territories shall be eligible to run for national office.  

Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsections (a) through (i) above, members who belong to the National or International Chapters shall not be eligible to serve as national officers or at-large directors, or to vote in regional elections.

            Section 3.  Chapter Membership.  All local chapter memberships must fall into one of the membership categories listed in Section 2 of this Article II.  No other membership categories shall be recognized by the ACF.  ACF members must maintain their chapter membership in order for their national membership to remain in good standing.  However, this requirement shall not apply to National Honorary, National Life and International Members, and shall not be construed to prevent members from transferring chapters.