Gabor Pamer, director of Food & Beverage Outlets at The Peninsula Beverly Hills, has received the 2013 Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence for his significant contribution to The Peninsula’s Belvedere Restaurant, the only AAA Five Diamond-rated restaurant in Los Angeles for 18 consecutive years. Prior to joining the Forbes Five Star and AAA Five Diamond-rated Peninsula Beverly Hills in November 2012, Mr. Pamer was Director of Restaurants at Gordon Ramsay at the London Hotel in West Hollywood.

At The Peninsula Beverly Hills, Pamer oversees the food and beverage programs not only at The Belvedere, but also at The Club Bar, The Roof Garden, and The Living Room. In 2013, Mr. Pamer relaunched The Peninsula’s beverage program, adding a broad selection of beers from prestigious local microbreweries and unique signature drinks made with fresh local ingredients. Examples include the Blueberry English Mule with Nolet’s Gin, Lemon Juice, Organic Ginger Beer, Orange Preserve and Fresh Blueberries, served in The Club Bar; and, in the al fresco Roof Garden, Orange Blossom Sangria with Rosé Wine, Orange Blossom Liqueur, Fresh Peaches, Raspberries, Mint and a Splash of Ginger Ale.

Pamer’s career in hospitality began more than 20 years ago in his native Hungary, where he graduated at the top of his class at the Szamos Mayas Culinary Institute in Budapest and trained at Kempinski Hotel Budapest, the first Hungarian hotel to be a member of the prestigious “Leading Hotels of the World.” In 2000 Pamer moved to Germany, where he worked his way up at the Michelin one-star Schwarzer Adler restaurant and later was manager of the Michelin-star restaurant at the Colombi Hotel in Freiburg, Germany. In 2006 Mr. Pamer relocated to the United States, becoming Banquet Manager and later Assistant Food & Beverage Service Manager at the Westgate Hotel in San Diego California, before moving to Los Angeles.

Pamer credits his mother, who was an excellent cook and host, for inspiring his career choice. “My twin brother and I loved to help her shop, cook, and bake for parties,” he says. “We set the tables, served beverages to the guests, all first steps in becoming passionate about the hospitality industry.”