By Carolyn Walkup

Title: director of culinary innovation, McDonald’s USA, Oak Brook, Ill.

Birth date:Nov. 8, 1965

Hometown: Ossining, N.Y.

Education: associate’s degree, The Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, N.Y.

Career highlights: graduating at the top of his class at the CIA; getting hired by McDonald’s in August 2004

Personal: married with two children

Hobbies: skiing, exercising, martial arts, playing piano, listening to music, cooking at home

Having a passion for food, accompanied by strong opinions about how something should taste, is the most important qualification for the job of director of culinary innovation at McDonald’s USA, according to Dan Coudreaut, who has held that position since the summer of 2004.

A culinarian who graduated at the top of his class from The Culinary Institute of America and who has worked in such prestigious fine-dining circles as the Four Seasons Hotels, Coudreaut knows about the sense of taste. He also knows what it takes to make a dish work in a quick-service restaurant environment that insists on absolute consistency in some 13,700 domestic units.

Craig Reid, regional vice president of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, knew Coudreaut well when he worked at the Dallas property. “I have known thousands of culinarians over the years, and he stands right at the top,” Reid says. “He has a bright, wonderful demeanor and positive, healthy and youthful energy.

“[Coudreaut] understands the value of yesterday but recognizes the need for tomorrow and is not restricted by boundaries,” Reid adds. “He has great focus and great humility.”

Today, Coudreaut identifies having influence on the menu of the largest restaurant company in the world as his biggest career reward, as well as his biggest challenge. “As one of our team members said, ‘We are changing the way America eats,’” he says.

McDonald’s is Coudreaut’s first quick-service culinary job. His career had progressed from upscale independents to the Four Seasons in Dallas to Metromedia Co.’s Ponderosa and Bonanza chains before he joined McDonald’s.

“This is the right place to be at the right time for my career,” he says. “There is a lot we can do with McDonald’s. I’m an agent of change. I want to make a menu better than I found it. Our core menu is fixed; my focus is on new things.”

The newest item Coudreaut worked on is the Asian Salad, a combination of a lettuce mix, snow peas, red peppers, carrots, grilled or deep-fried chicken, edamame, mandarin oranges, almonds, and low-fat sesame-ginger salad dressing. The chicken pieces are brushed with an orange glaze just before serving. In the works for some 16 months, McDonald’s finally rolled out the long-anticipated salad in April.

Coudreaut says McDonald’s chose Asian over other ethnic influences for this salad because Asian cuisine is gaining momentum among mainstream American consumers, along with increasing public demand for better nutrition. “Nutrition is a mega trend — customers are becoming more and more savvy about what truly is nutritious,” he says.

He and his team chose each ingredient in the salad for its nutritious content, as well as what it contributed to the flavor, texture and color. They worked closely with their suppliers before making final decisions to be sure the ingredients were in large enough supply to meet McDonald’s mammoth quantity requirements.

When they began researching ideas, the team looked beyond McDonald’s direct competitors, such as Wendy’s International, for new salad ideas. “A lot of trends start with upscale independent restaurants,” Coudreaut notes.

Brainstorming with his in-house culinary team proves to be especially valuable. “Every idea has gotten better when people around it share ideas. It’s not good to keep your idea to yourself,” Coudreaut says.

When he’s cooking at home, Coudreaut, who’s an admirer of fine-dining chef Daniel Boulud, likes to make simple, home-style foods, such as roast chicken with mashed potatoes. He and his daughter sometimes make pizza from scratch.

His favorite style of cuisine is country French — bistro-style foods — along with risotto and pasta. “Those are salt-of-the-earth foods that have been around for hundreds of years,” he says.

Coudreaut says he draws inspiration for menu ideas from many nonrestaurant sources, including past experiences, conversations with people in many different roles, the seasons and even his young children. “Everybody eats,” he says. “I listen to everybody’s opinions and ideas.”

Working with other people is one of Coudreaut’s strongest assets, according to Kevin Ryan, executive director of the International Corporate Chefs Association. Ryan also knows Coudreaut to be self-motivated, a trait he says is absolutely necessary in the quick-service world, where it can take years before an idea comes to fruition on the menu.

“I’m very excited about the fact that when you have the industry leader making great strides to bring new products to the market, it helps the entire industry,” Ryan says.