Welcome to my Bio

By iguana-cook on September 11, 2001 • ( 0 )

Hello. Thank you for visiting.

My name is Ron Keller. I thought perhaps, a small introduction with a little background/history might interest you in a follow up interview.

I have been a chef for 30+ years. I started out my professional career back in the mid-80s after serving in the Marine Corps, honorably.

I worked in many different capacities as a chef and executive chef. My first chef position, was as a banquet chef for Stouffer’s Hamilton Hotel in Itasca, Illinois. I was a prodigy of Hiroshi Nagamichi, a Japanese Master ice sculptor, who was my executive chef at that time. I was featured in local newspapers with my ice sculptures, as the hotel allowed me to put on ice carving events. I also opened up my own ice carving business and sculpted ice carvings for the Chicagoland area. I continued carving ice for the hotels as my reputation grew as a chef. I sold my ice carving business and moved to Jamaica in 1992, for my first Executive Chef role.

As the Executive Chef of Hilton’s Rose Hall Resort in Montego Bay, I headed up a staff of 90 cooks and sculleries. The food services our hotel provided were vast. I operated 4 restaurants, an evening pool deck buffet, beach service manned by waitstaff for ordering ala carte from our Jamaican Grille Shop on the beach. A Mediterranean restaurant on the 18-hole of our famous golf course. We catered and ran the legendary Rose Hall house which was built in 1778. We also held nightly beach bashes with bonfires and live entertainment on tike-torch lit beaches. Many couples made their wedding events on our property and catering these events was a large part of my kitchen operations. I led a massive contingent of cooks and helpers to cover the grounds from the beach to the mountains. I lived and worked in Jamaica for 4 years.

Coming back state-side, I worked for the Marriott corporation. As a corporate chef, I ran the contracted food services for Northern Trust Bank in Chicago. Bank clients and Northern Trust customers held lunches and dinners on our dedicated 5th floor dining room and meeting rooms.

I moved from Northern Trust to Quaker Oats corporation, where Quaker Oats owned Gatorade. MVP Michael Jordan was the premiere basketball star featured in Gatorade commercials during the reigning Chicago Bulls championships. Quaker Oats owned Gatorade and was a signature account to Marriott. I was the executive chef in 2000 for two years leading the culinary department to Quaker Oats, Gatorade and the entire 26 floors of various businesses leasing the building’s spaces. I treated the building’s floors in a similar fashion to the room service one would experience at a luxurious hotel. During this time, Marriott sold off their corporate food service arm to a French company, Sodexho. (Sodexho changed to Sodexo)

On September 11th, 2001, the World Trade Center Towers was attacked. Marriott ran the corporate food services within the World Trade Center Towers. And we lost Marriott employees from the attack that day. I was asked to go to New York City and assist the food service operations feeding the rescue/recovery efforts, for a couple months. I worked out of the Lehman Brothers Investment Bank Building. We established distribution points in concert with the Red Cross, distributing food and beverage to nourish everyone that needed to eat/drink/rest. Our food production was massive. Sysco Food Service trucks coming out three times a day, keeping up with our around the clock operations. We worked in shifts and housed ourselves and cooks across the river in New Jersey. Every morning, I would pack my culinary student cook volunteers in my rented van, 1 of 4 vans in the caravan, and we headed for the tunnels to get to Manhattan. Our volunteer cooks from the New York Culinary Institute played a huge role filling out the cook ranks to keep food production flowing. The overall logistics was an impressive undertaking. It was a humbling experience.

I currently work for Sodexo as the Executive Chef at Discover Card Corporate Headquarters in Riverwoods, Illinois.

My personal web presence, “Fresh Inspirations”, showcases my work at Discover Card.

I’ve been with Discover Card as their Executive Chef for ten years.

As you can see, the website showcases some really wonderfully captured events in great detail. This site also acts as a place for my staff to use for their next employment opportunity. Please visit.

http://www.iguana-cook.com

I have a wealth of experiences in menu planning, recipe development, training of staff and other chefs, financials, technologies to assist our core businesses, marketing, and consulting.

I’m a very good cook, which is still my greatest passion. My hobbies include reading books, music and saltwater fish species.

Check out my in-wall aquarium I built to house 30 fish from around the world’s reef systems. See my YouTube video below………… Its really cool!

I’ve also included some additional images of these highlights below.

Please consider an opportunity, where we can get together and further discuss possible opportunities where I can help you with your business model. I look forward to meeting you.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Ron Keller

“The Hamilton Hotel”. A Stouffer’s Hotel purchased by Wyndham Hotels, located in Itasca, Illinois.