Raul Lacara, Senior Associate Director of Executive Conferences and Catering Services

Raul joined R&DE Stanford Dining in 1999 as Executive Chef of Schwab Executive Dining. Since that time, Raul has constantly innovated to put Schwab at the forefront of university executive dining. Under Raul’s leadership, the Financial Times has rated Stanford University to have the finest executive dining program in the world for over eight years. To serve the student community, Raul created a food cart concept, Raul’s Corner @ GSB, where he creates refined versions of popular street food items like Greek Gyros and Middle Eastern Shawarma. He has also served Branner Dining and Manzanita Dining as Executive Chef. Most recently, Raul was certified in the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation cooking curriculum, and through Jamie Oliver's Cook Smart Program at the Teaching Kitchen @ Stanford, uses Jamie’s hands-on curriculum to teach students the fundamentals of cooking delicious meals while understanding how to eat healthier and build confidence in cooking for themselves and others.

Raul has a background in fine arts, and early in his career he devoted his design skills to ice sculpting. Today he is a Master Ice Carver, and has created show-stopping pieces as varied as the Stanford logo, the Moscow Kremlin, and a six-foot long flying Chinese dragon. He will often hand-carve fruit displays to add a special touch to events.

Over the course of his career, Raul has earned numerous accolades. Most notable is that he is part of the Sanford University team that was inducted into Restaurant & Institutions magazine’s Ivy Society in 2006. In 2005, he won the National Association of College and University Foodservices (NACUFS) Culinary Challenge with his Asian-spiced Salmon served with Coconut Forbidden Rice. He also won the NACUFS Cardinal Toque in 2003, the NACUFS Theodore Minah Distinguished Service Award in 2004, and earned second place in the National Wild Game Competition’s Ice Carving Competition in 1994, among others.