Culinary Excellence. Rooted in Experience and Precision
I’ve spent more than 30 years building my culinary career right here in the Spokane area. I started at 15, washing dishes in a family restaurant, and worked my way through every level of a professional kitchen. That journey eventually led me to the Davenport Hotel, where I spent 15 years growing from breakfast cook to Executive Chef. Those decades taught me that great food is about more than technique—it’s about precision, hospitality, creativity, and creating an experience people remember.
From Breakfast Cook to Executive Chef
In 2005, I joined the Historic Davenport Hotel as a breakfast cook at the Palm Court Grill. Over the next 15 years, I worked my way through increasingly demanding culinary leadership roles—from Lead Cook and Sous Chef at the Palm Court to Executive Chef of the Safari Room, and later Executive Chef overseeing the Historic Davenport’s banquet operations and Palm Court Grill.
Along the way, my responsibilities expanded far beyond a single restaurant. I led restaurant and banquet kitchens, managed pastry and candy production, developed menus for weddings and large-scale events, and worked with clients to turn their ideas into memorable dining experiences.
Creating an Experience
Some of the most rewarding moments of my career came from turning an idea into an experience. At the Davenport, that meant going beyond simply creating a menu. I developed a five-course dinner inspired by the first-class dining experience aboard the Titanic and later created a modern five-course menu inspired by Dale Chihuly’s glasswork, translating color, movement, and presentation into food.
Sunday brunch became another opportunity to create something new. Rather than serving the same experience week after week, our culinary team developed changing themes, seasonal dishes, elaborate displays, and special menus that gave guests a reason to come back and discover what we were doing next.
Those experiences helped shape the philosophy behind Floor 13 Culinary. Great food should taste exceptional, but it can also tell a story, celebrate an occasion, and create a memory. Bring me the idea, the occasion, or even just the beginning of a thought—and we can build the experience around it.
Press & Recognition
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