The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa Selects Head Banquet Chef to Lead Resort's Culinary Experience
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The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa Selects Head Banquet Chef to Lead Resort's Culinary Experience
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Category: North America & West Indies / Carribean islands - Careers
- Appointments
This is a press release selected by our editorial committee and published online for free on 2007-04-17
New Executive Chef's Creativity, Passion and Compassion to Take Resort to Next Level
The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa today announced the promotion of Head Banquet Chef Todd Berry to the position of Executive Chef. Berry, who already has several years of executive chef experience under his belt, was selected from a deep pool of candidates to take the resort to the next level with his creative execution, forward- thinking approach to cooking and strong desire to teach and mentor his staff.
Berry joined the Westin Kierland team in April of 2006 as head of the resort's banquet department. He was quickly noticed for his ability to keep cool under pressure and for possessing a natural talent and pure passion for cooking. He also gained a reputation for having a genuine interest in the happiness and success of all his team members.
"During our search for a candidate, we had a lot of big names walk through our door with some very fancy resumes," said Bruce Lange, Managing Director of The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa, "but when it came down to it, what we really wanted was a person and not a name. We wanted heart, creativity, humility and leadership, and we found all of those qualities right under our nose in Todd Berry. You will see a lot of great innovation and forward thinking with Todd at our culinary helm."
"The strength of The Westin Kierland Resort has always been the genuineness of our associates and the talent we have within our own walls. Todd's promotion is a great example of this," Lange adds. "When this announcement was made internally, we received an overwhelming response from our entire culinary team in support of Todd's promotion. This speaks volumes to us."
Berry's first order of business as Executive Chef is to meet one-on-one with each of his staff members. He wants to determine each of their long term goals and then help them reach their goals by mapping out a career plan.
"Most executive chefs build a team and hang on to that team for as long as possible because that makes their job easier," said Berry. "But that never made any sense to me because you're not giving anything back to them. It's my goal that four years down the road from now, my current staff will be all over the country working in their dream jobs. That's how I'll know that I did my job well."
Liz Franzese, the Resort's Director of Sales & Marketing adds, "Clients have already raved about the change in leadership. They've noted what a pleasure it's been to work with Todd and comment he is a chef who is approachable, creative, and responsive; not to mention he has an immense talent for his craft." Franzese continues, "This is what we were looking for in an Executive Chef."
Berry also plans to create new menus in all of the resort's casual dining outlets including in-room dining, Nellie Cashman's Monday Club Cafe and Brittlebush Bar & Grill to provide guests with a first-rate dining experience but within the realm that each outlet dictates. Berry's vision to give the guests exactly what they want, where they want it, but better, will help The Westin Kierland Resort continue to be a leader in on-premise dining.
Other enhancements that Berry plans to make are developing an off-premise catering department as well as offering cooking classes to all culinary staff members to create an environment where associates can learn from each other and therefore improve their overall talent.
Prior to joining The Westin Kierland Resort, Berry served as Executive Chef at both the Sheraton Grand Sacramento and Hidden Meadow Ranch in Greer, Ariz. Other previous experience includes the Hyatt Regency Scottsdale at Gainey Ranch, where he worked for 11 years, the Hotel Westcourt in Scottsdale and the French Corner, also in Scottsdale.
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