Ron Pickarski has many fond memories of growing up in Petoskey, even to the point of substituting for a Petoskey News-Review carrier a few times to make some extra money.

"I used to play at the old pond near the area of Walmart," said Pickarski, who now resides in Boulder, Colo., as the founder, president and culinologist of Eco-Cuisine, Inc., a US vegetarian and vegan foodservice company. "Before the highway along the waterfront was put in, I remember the officer I think his first name was Frank directing traffic on Mitchell Street down in front of the Perry Davis Hotel to get continued north."

Pickarski also recalls working at his parents' restaurant, Sophie's Lunch, located on the corner of Mitchell and Emmet Street which was open 24 hours.

In 1980, Pickarski was the first vegetarian chef to compete in the International Culinary Olympics in Frankfurt, Germany, and then competed in the Culinary Olympics again in 1984, 1988, 1992 and 1996, winning seven medals with vegan cuisine.

With 50 years experience in professional kitchens ranging from fine dining to quick service restaurants, Pickarski's specialty has been research and development of natural, vegan foodservice savory speed scratch products with pulses designed for chefs to cook with and build into their menus.

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Quick Read: Food as health, Petoskey native Pickarski an internationally renowned vegan chef - Petoskey News-Review