Hotels and resorts in cities across the U.S. and Mexico have named new leaders for their food and beverage operations this month.
The Davenport Hotel Collection
The Davenport Hotel Collection, which includes 11 restaurants and bars, added chef Patrick Dahms as the new area culinary director. Dahms now oversees the guest dining experience, recipe innovation and culinary operations across the hotels’ food and beverage outlets, banquet halls and private events.
After attending culinary school in Hamburg, Germany, Dahms trained as an apprentice at the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten Hamburg (now Fairmont). He went on to work as executive chef at properties including the Willard InterContinental, Washington, D.C.; St. Regis Aspen Resort, Colo.; Hilton San Diego Bayfront, Calif.; and most recently at The Hythe, a Luxury Collection Resort in Vail, Colo.
Everline Resort and Spa
Everline Resort & Spa, Olympic Valley, Calif., appointed Gavin Lubben chef de cuisine at Six Peaks Grille, the resort’s signature restaurant.
Lubben joins the property from Miraval Berkshire, in Lenox, Mass., where he was a sous chef. Originally from Tucson, Ariz., Lubben began working in restaurants at the age of 15 where he started as a dishwasher. In 2016, Gavin began working with Miraval Resorts in Arizona before Hyatt acquired the brand in 2017. During his time at Miraval, he assisted with properties in Arizona, Texas and Massachusetts and held various roles ranging from cook to chef de cuisine.
Hotel Bel-Air
The Hotel Bel-Air appointed Christophe Rull as executive pastry chef. Rull is responsible for overseeing the pastry offerings at the hotel, including in the Restaurant at Hotel Bel-Air, the Bar & Lounge, in-room dining as well as banquets and events.
Rull is a French-born pastry chef with more than 20 years of experience. His career started in a Michelin Star restaurant when he was 16. In 2021, Christophe won “U.S. Chocolate Master” at the World Chocolate Masters’ American semifinals in Chicago at age 36. In the fall of 2022, he competed at the 2021-22 World Chocolate Masters event in Paris, placing fifth overall. Before his time training and competing for the World Chocolate Masters’, Christophe was executive pastry chef at Park Hyatt Aviara Carlsbad, Calif. and assistant executive pastry chef at MGM Grand Las Vegas and Aria Resorts & Casino Las Vegas.
Hyatt Regency Princeton
The Hyatt Regency Princeton (N.J.) appointed Christopher Tavares as executive chef, responsible for Laurea, the hotel’s Italian restaurant and the catering operation servicing one of Central New Jersey’s largest ballrooms.
Before joining the Hyatt, Tavares conceptualized and launched Ancient Spirits & Grille in Philadelphia, an Ayurvedic restaurant that personalizes cuisine based on the guest, and for seven years was executive chef for Davio’s a fine dining steakhouse, also in Philadelphia.
Thompson Savannah
The Thompson Savannah (Ga.) named Victoria Shore as executive chef. Shore will oversee all four concepts at the hotel—the upscale, seasonally focused Fleeting, where she will work alongside Creative Culinary Director Rob Newton; the Mediterranean-inspired rooftop venue Bar Julian; the recently reimagined Bar by Fleeting; and the ingredient-driven Stevedore Bakery, working closely with Executive Pastry Chef Noah Whritenour.
After cooking in kitchens along the East Coast, she returned home to Atlanta, joining the Castellucci Hospitality Group at Cooks & Soldiers as a pastry chef, and then as a sous chef at Double Zero and food stall, Recess, in the Krog Street Market development.
Viceroy Chicago
Viceroy Hotels & Resorts promoted Verlord Laguatan as Viceroy Chicago's new executive chef. Laguatan will oversee all culinary operations at the hotel, from the Somerset restaurant to the Devereaux rooftop lounge.
Laguatan began his career at the Wyndham Glenview. From there, he worked his way up to sous chef at The Pump Room by Jean Georges in the Public Hotel in Chicago. He joined the team at Sepia, a Michelin-starred restaurant in the West Loop, helping the establishment retain its 10th Michelin star. While at Sepia, Laguatan launched pop-ups with Chef Zubair Mohajir, including a South Asian concept with a 100 percent Halal menu—a concept that has since grown into Wazwan, a brick-and-mortar restaurant in West Town.
Viceroy Los Cabos
Viceroy Los Cabos, San José del Cabo, Mexico, appoints Bernard Prim as executive chef. Prim will oversee all culinary operations for Viceroy Los Cabos’ dining venues, including the resort’s newest signature restaurant, Dalia.
A Mexico City native, Prim has worked in kitchens all over the world. Before his role at Viceroy Los Cabos, Prim spent more than three years as the executive chef at the Belmond La Samanna on the island of St. Martin in the Caribbean, where he oversaw all culinary efforts. Prim’s career began with a culinary apprenticeship in Germany, and he has since held a number of executive chef roles at The Amandari in Bali, Indonesia; Nihiwatu Resort in Sumba, Indonesia; Villa Treville and Le Sirene Treville Beach Club in Positano, Italy; the TreVille Phuket in Thailand; and Alila Villas Koh Russey in Cambodia.