ike many hotel F&B executives,
Andrew Roenbeck
did his fair share of moving
to advance his career.
And even though he traveled
to top destinations as
part of Interstate Hotels &
Resorts’ task force to open new hotels
back in the 1980s, Roenbeck says he
and his wife felt most at home in Boca
Raton, Florida, where Interstate was
based. And he wondered whether one
day he could work at the famed Boca
Raton Resort & Club.
“I always looked at the Boca Raton
Resort. It is the center of town. It is the
mecca,” Roenbeck recalls. “Boy, oh boy,
I would say to myself. Would I have
the skill set to work there? Could I
work at such a prestigious place?”
While growing up, Roenbeck’s afterschool
and summer jobs were all in
foodservice. But it wasn’t until his junior
year in high school when his dad
broached the idea that he seriously considered
becoming a professional chef.
“My father and grandfather actually
did all the cooking. I grew up
watching them cook in the house,”
Roenbeck says.
In 1982, Roenbeck graduated
from the Culinary Institute of
America and immediately went to
work for Hershey Entertainment &
Resorts, followed by a six-year tenure
with Interstate. His reputation for
successful new hotel launches preceded
him, and in 1989, he was hired to
help open the Trump Taj Mahal.
After 18 months there, the opportunity
arose for him to become executive
chef at a private Boca Raton
country club.
It was the contacts he’d made over
the years that opened the door to the
Boca Raton Resort and the position
as executive sous chef, overseeing all
banquet operations. His mission was
to “change and improve all banquet
operations.”
“Our goal is to give clients who come to the
Boca Raton Resort for their banquet and catering
needs the same exact experience as if they dined
at the best restaurant in the city,” Roenbeck says.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s a two-top, five-top, sixtop,
or a banquet for 800, 1,000, or 1,500, our
banquet food is on par with any à la carte
restaurant.”
As executive chef, Roenbeck is responsible for
18 on-site kitchens and bakeries. Fifteen “area
chefs” who run the individual outlets, along with
325 cooks, report directly to him. “Challenges”
are what get his creative juices flowing.
“When a client says, ‘we want everything,’ that
gets my energy and creativity going,” Roenbeck
says. “One of our best attributes from a culinary
side of things is the depth and experience we
have on property. We can achieve anything that
anyone is looking to do.”
Even with some 680 helping hands,
Roenbeck continues to be a hands-on chef, calling
his “vertical chopper mixer” one of his
favorite kitchen tools, especially for marinades
and salad dressings.
“It's like a 10-gallon Cuisinart,” Roenbeck says.
Another Roenbeck favorite is using glass
sheets or blocks for presentation, because they
produce “very clean and very elegant” looks. The
property also enjoys the wizardry of Master Ice
Carver Dean Carlson, another way Boca’s banquets
and catering stand out in a highly competitive
industry.
He adds that the property is starting to phase
out its use of sterno, replacing it with more
induction-type equipment, both in the front
and back of the house. This renovation is part of
an extensive refurbishment undertaken by LXR
Luxury Resorts & Hotels and its owner, affiliates
of Blackstone Real Estate Advisors, to exceed
guest expectations, Roenbeck says.
“These renovations are designed to give
guests the best food, the best product, and the
best service,” Roenbeck says.
Among these changes is a shift to a blend of
resort-run operations supported by outlets led by
internationally acclaimed legends in the kitchen.
At press time, Masaharu Morimoto of Iron Chef
fame was on track to open his first-ever sushi bar
bearing his name, directly off the Resort’s Piazza.
This expands the lobby food concept, which
Roenbeck says is in keeping with the LXR
approach. Another change will be the total renovation
of the Beach Club into a spectacular outdoor
banquet venue accessible by the
Intracoastal Waterway.
At age 44, Roenbeck says retirement isn’t in his
near future. But when he’s ready to hang up his
executive chef hat, he can picture himself as a professor/
instructor at a world-class culinary school.
And future culinarians would be fortunate to
have Roenbeck, who’s in a class by himself, head
their class.
