The award-winning signature restaurant of the AAA Four Diamond-rated Palm Beach Marriott Singer Island Resort & Spa, 3800 Ocean, named Gustavo Calderon as executive chef. Returning to Florida after two years of culinary work abroad, he will direct the execution of the resort’s culinary needs under the expertise of assistant general manager and former executive chef Larry LaValley.

With more than 10 years of professional experience, Calderon most recently served as executive sous chef at The Ritz-Carlton Bahrain. There, he assisted the executive chef with the supervision of the hotel’s culinary division, which consisted of nine restaurants and 23 villas, while overseeing the hotel’s banquet operations. He successfully led a kitchen of 110 cooks and 24 sous-chefs. Calderon spent four years with Ritz-Carlton in Cancun, Naples (Florida) and Bahrain before accepting his new position at Palm Beach Marriott Singer Island.

Calderon’s career began in Saltillo, Mexico, where his grandmother owned a small family restaurant and where he became immersed in authentic Mexican cuisine. He received his bachelor’s degree in hotel management from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education in Mexico. Calderon furthered his education with a degree in culinary arts from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, where he was exposed to fine dining during an internship at Le Bernardin under the legendary Chef Eric Ripert. Calderon and LaValley previously worked together at the acclaimed Mark’s South Beach and The Regent Bal Harbor, where Calderon honed his skills in South Florida cuisine under James Beard award winning Chef Mark Militello and other well-respected area chefs.