F & B : LIFE IN THE KITCHEN
LONG ANDWINDING ROADS
Executive Chef Renzo Alcantara ( far right ) poses with his team at Hilton Lima Miraflores .
Today Renzo Alcantara is the executive chef at Hilton Lima Miraflores , but like so many of his contemporaries , he started his career much more humbly — as a dishwasher . “ Back in those days ( the 1990s ) a dishwasher was more than just that ,” Alcantara recalls . “ We helped the cook , we received groceries , we were in charge of the deposits as well as the team members ’ food .”
Alcantara slowly but surely worked his way up through the industry , even working alongside Joel Robuchon as a trainee and apprentice . “ I ’ ll never forget his commitment to delivering high standards ,” Alcantara says of working with the legendary chef . “ We never called any customers ‘ clients ’ — they were our guests , and the kitchen was our home .”
Marc Therrien ’ s story is somewhat similar . On his way to his current job as executive chef at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad , California , he has worked every station in the kitchen and even worked at a catering company that handled functions such as the Red Bull Air Race and the Winter Olympic Games . “ It was exciting handling that type of business , and it has changed the way I operate in hotels ,” Therrien says .
Sometimes the road to a culinary career has a few detours . “ I really wanted to go to college for music ,” recalls David Haick , executive chef at Whiteface Lodge in Lake Placid , New
York . “ However , I did not pass music theory in high school .”
Haick went to college for cooking instead and found the variety he was seeking in hotels . “ Early in my career , I knew I wanted the most out of an establishment ,” Haick says . “ I wanted to see and learn as much as possible , and working in hotels and resorts offered that to me .”
David Fuñe ’ s path includes brushes with fame . In addition to a variety of hotel experience , the executive chef at Surf & Sand Resort in Laguna Beach , California , has appeared on the History Channel and the Food Network thanks to his West Side LA Gourmet Food Truck .
Despite the exciting stories many
56 HOTELS November 2013 www . hotelsmag . com