Executive edge: Kristen Harkness: Omni chef cooks up career with luxury hotel chain.

• Author: Bronikowski, Lynn
• Position: Omni Interlocken Resort & Spa

On May 13, Kristen Harkness is in charge of feeding 800 to 1,000 people--and most of them are moms.

As executive chef of Omni Interlocken Resort & Spa in Broomfield, Harkness oversees a culinary staff of 30 who have been preparing for months for Mother's Day--the single busiest dining day of the year.

"There's a lot of logistics and schematics that go into cooking on such a busy day," said Harkness, who joined Omni in August 2000 as a pastry chef and within two years became the first female executive chef among the Irving, Texas-based company's 39 luxury hotels.

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"We have to write the menus, put everything on a spreadsheet, including food orders," she said. "Everybody on our staff has to work that day--even mothers, but we give them a single-stem rose to honor them. It can be a long day."

But the woman who graduated with a bachelor of science degree in biology from Southern Illinois University before finding her passion for cooking isn't complaining.

"I get to do what I love and be creative doing it," said Harkness, who would go on to graduate from the Art Institute of Colorado.

Today, she is responsible for the culinary direction of the Omni's Meritage Restaurant, all banquet operations at the hotel and the cuisine of Fairways Clubhouse. "As the executive chef I don't get to play with the food as much as I used to, but I get to see everything start on paper and then see it come to fruition. That is very exciting to see months of work...