Perfect Pastry Chefs | Luxury Resorts with Excellent Desserts

ANGEL CASTILLO, HYATT REGENCY RESORT AND SPA, SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA

Photo courtesy of Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort and Spa

With 10 years of experience in the luxury hospitality industry, Angel Castillo was recently named executive pastry chef at this desert luxury resort. Utilizing balanced ingredients and textures, Chef Castillo incorporates her Navajo heritage into her dessert creations like her white chocolate corn cake, which includes roasted corn crème, blue corn cake, cornmeal streusel and a white chocolate corn husk. Another of her signature dishes is chocolate citrus cake with chocolate mousse, sweet Texas orange and smoked sea-salted chocolate caramel.

JAMON HARPER, ESPACIO THE JEWEL OF WAIKIKI, HONOLULU, HAWAII

Photo courtesy of Aqua-Aston Hospitality 

Jamon Harper brings his award-winning techniques to Mugen,a French-Japanese dining concept at ESPACIO The Jewel of Waikiki. With 15 years of experience in Hawaii and on the mainland, Chef Harper incorporates local flavor into many of his desserts at Mugen—which means infinity in Japanese—such as local Manoa chocolate infused with flavors like lilikoi, yuzu and hazelnut. He has introduced new courses to Mugen’s exquisite tasting menu with dishes including Laura Chenel goat cheese with fennel, orange and herbs de Provence. As a parting gift, guests are presented with a box of handmade drageés, chocolate-coated almonds.  

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NOELLE MARCHETTI, THE JOSEPH, A LUXURY COLLECTION HOTEL, NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

Photo Courtesy of The Joseph, a Luxury Collection Hotel

Executive Pastry Chef Noelle Marchetti oversees all pastry and desserts at The Joseph, A Luxury Collection Hotel in Nashville. Her unique desserts are always beautifully plated and rich in flavor featuring seasonal ingredients. Chef Marchetti created the famed focaccia recipe for the tableside bread service at Yolan, the hotel’s upscale Italian restaurant, and decadent desserts such as the Nocciola featuring dark chocolate, espresso and hazelnut praline.

 DOUG ORR, MDRD AT THE AMWAY GRAND PLAZA, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN

Photo courtesy of AHC Hospitality

Named one of the best new restaurants of 2021 by USA Today, MDRD is located on the 27th floor of the Amway Grand Plaza offering spectacular river views and modern Spanish cuisine. The menu includes creative and elegant desserts including yuzu white chocolate mousse with Meyer lemon marmalade, dark chocolate souffle with strawberry gelato and spun sugar, and a brioche donut with citrus and cinnamon flan. 

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JOSHUA CAIN, CARIBE ROYALE, ORLANDO, FLORIDA

Photo courtesy of Caribe Royale Orlando

With more than 25 years of experience in the hospitality industry, Caribe Royale Orlando’s Executive Pastry Chef Joshua Cain is known for his creative takes on classic desserts from orange crème brûlée, a Florida twist on the beloved French dessert, to guava cream crêpes with tropical salsa. Chef Cain also spearheads pastry display projects for the luxury resort, including the Caribe Royale North Pole Express, a 32-foot-long train display made completely of chocolate. 

TROMAN FELIZMENIO, VINOY RENAISSANCE RESORT AND GOLF CLUB, ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA

Photo courtesy of Vinoy Renaissance Resort and Golf Club

Pastry chef Troman Felizmenio recently joined The Vinoy Renaissance’s culinary team as the historic resort in downtown St. Petersburg prepares to unveil renovations later this year. Chef Felizmenio will play a central role in developing the luxury resort’s refreshed dining program, which will include a new patisserie concept in the main lobby. After honing his pastry skills at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and the Pâtisserie & École Internationale Olivier Bajard in France, Felizmenio worked as the executive pastry chef at luxury properties including Ritz-Carlton Moscow, Ritz-Carlton San Juan and most recently, the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills.