Fred is the proprietor of Le Guild Culinaire which is a publishing company and consulting firm based out of Charlotte North Carolina. The main line of business focuses on publishing the Chefs Reference Guide for educators and restaurateurs. Building upon this work  F&B Resources, a subsidiary of Le Guild Culinaire partners with commercial and retail food production companies to develop products, facilitate processes, and expand team proficiencies to maximize the profit potential and improve the guest experience for each client. 

Fred is the Master Instructor for the College of Food Innovation and Technology at the Charlotte Campus of Johnson & Wales University. He joined the faculty in 1995 and taught at the Norfolk Campus, where he advised the Epicurean Society and American Culinary Federation (ACF) Competition Team for ten years before moving to the Charlotte Campus in 2005. Tiess teaches culinary labs including Classical French Cuisine, International Cuisine, Garde Manger, Baking, and Pastry. Tiess currently teaches entrepreneurship courses for the College of Business as well as the College of Professional Studies. He has also taught the Senior Level Capstone course for the School of Hospitality at J&W. Tiess coached Charlotte’s hot food team for the annual Intra collegiate Culinary Competition. In 2011 Tiess was honored as "Teacher of the Year" by Johnson and Wales University.

Prior to entering the education field, Tiess served as Executive Chef of the four-star-rated Founders Inn and Conference Center in Virginia Beach. His industry experience also includes working as Chef d’Entremetier at the Everglades Club in Palm Beach, Fla. He worked at the famed Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, W.V. He completed an apprenticeship there and graduated as class valedictorian. He quickly rose to sous chef at the legendary, five-star resort overseeing the Golf Resort. He honed his skills by working for various fine dining restaurants in New York and Hilton Head prior to graduating from the Culinary Institute of America. His journey began at his grandfather's bar, Barry's in Manhattan, and helping out at his great aunt's Luncheonette on Nagle Avenue in the 1970s. 

Tiess has won countless awards and honors, including first place in the pastry portion of the 2000 Shenandoah Valley Food Competition, the 1998 Presidents Award from the ACF Tidewater Chapter, and best of show at the 1993 Nation’s Capitol Chefs Association Culinary Salon. As the coach for J&W’s Junior ACF Hot Food Team, he led his students to a first-place finish in the 1998 Southeast Regional Jr. ACF Hot Foods competition in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and, later that year, a silver medal at the nationals in Anaheim, Calif. In 2007 the Johnson and Wales Team from Charlotte, under Tiess' leadership won the Intercollegiate Culinary Competition at the Denver Campus of J&W.  His national championships include the Athens Fillo Dough Competition, the National Bean Competition, the Knorr Swiss Recipe Championship, and the Cookshack Smoker Competition.

Tiess holds a Master's Degree from Western Carolina University in Entrepreneurship, was inducted into the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society at WCU, a bachelor’s degree in Food Service Management from Johnson & Wales University in Norfolk, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude, and was inducted to both the Golden Quill Honor Society and Alpha Beta Kappa Honor Society. Tiess holds an associate degree in Business Administration from the State University of New York, and an associate degree in Culinary Arts from the Culinary Institute of America (CIA). Tiess completed two fellowships at the CIA, one with the  Baking and Pastry Faculty and one with the Professional Development Department. 

 

He is a Certified Executive Chef and Certified Culinary Administrator through the American Culinary Federation (ACF) as well as a Mentor Certification Evaluator for the ACF, a Certified Foodservice Management Professional through the National Restaurant Association, and a Certified Culinary Instructor through the Foodservice Educators Network International (FENI). He has been a member of the Canadian Chefs Federation. In 2017 Master Chef Tiess completed Master Chef courses at the University of Guelph - Humber College. He earned the World Association of Chef Societies (WACS) certification of Master Chef or WCMC.

Tiess has appeared on the Food Network special “Master Chef, The Test of a Lifetime.”  He has been a featured guest on ABC Family’s “Living the Life” television program. In both 2005 and 2006,  the show received the coveted Silver Telly Award for our culinary television production. In 2007, during their final season "Living the Life" filmed their 60th episode with Chef Fred.  

 

Chef Tiess is a member of a professional culinary competition team
. In September 2007, the team won gold medals at the 8th Annual Culinary Super Challenge Team Competition in Orlando Fl. In October 2008, Tiess became the"U.S. ICIF Concorso Sintonie" champion competing in New York City.

Tiess has served  President George H.W. Bush, Vice President Dan Quayle, the Prime Minister of Israel Isaac Rabin, King Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire,  Rose Kennedy, Senator Edward Kennedy, the late John Kennedy Jr., the late Alexander Haige, The United States Congress-Democratic Caucus. He has also cooked for Actors Charlton Heston, Chuck Norris, Mr. T,  Robin Williams, Bill Murray, and Pat Boone. It was his pleasure to serve Entrepreneurs Truett Cathey of Chick-fil-A and Dave Thomas of Wendy's,  George Foreman and the  Dr. Pat Robertson of the Christian Broadcasting Network, and Performing Artists Sheila Walsh, The Oak Ridge Boys, Charlie Daniels, Ricky Skaggs, Phil Driscoll, and Lee Greenwood.

Fred has served on the Board of Directors for Mercy Chefs. Mercy Chefs is a non-profit, faith-based, charitable organization committed to serving high quality professionally prepared meals, during local, state, and national disasters and emergencies. In 2012  he and his family prepared over 5000 meals for Thanksgiving in New Orleans for victims of Hurricane Isaac. In May 2013 he directed the production of over 35,000 meals in Moore Oklahoma in response to the F5  tornado that destroyed 12,000 homes and displaced 33,000 victims.  
In June 2016 Fred and his family served in West Virginia after the flooding in Greenbrier County serving to direct the deployment in White Sulphur and helping to produce the 18,000 meals served. Mercy Chefs has served millions of meals since its founding after Hurricane Katrina. Here is a free book of some of our favorite dishes to make. To support the efforts and help fund the next response, please visit www.mercychefs.com