Executive Chef Clayton van Hooijdonk joins The Ritz-Carlton, Boston Common from the world-famous Intercontinental Mark Hopkins in San Francisco, California. Chef Clayton has achieved quite an impressive culinary background, cooking at Intercontinental properties in New Orleans, Louisiana and Hamburg, Germany. His cuisine is derived from years of traveling the world and experimenting with new flavors. “Classical French training provides a strong foundation for my creative and artistic passions,” says van Hooijdonk.

At the age of 30, Chef Clayton has more than a decade of experience and a degree from The Culinary Academies Heerlen and Sittard located in the Netherlands. His career began washing dishes at a typical Dutch Pannekoek Huis (Pancake House). Although a native of New Zealand, van Hooijdonk attended school in Germany and Holland, intending to obtain his degree in hotel management. As fate would have it, his native English prevented this and gave him the opportunity to try his hand in the culinary arts, and according to Chef Clayton, “the rest is history.”

After four years of working in various culinary positions in the Netherlands, Van Hooijdonk made a major move across the Atlantic to The Big Easy to become the Restaurant Chef at the Intercontinental hotel in New Orleans. After two years he was promoted to Sous Chef at the Intercontinental hotel in Hamburg, Germany. Following a year in Hamburg van Hooijdonk returned to the Intercontinental New Orleans as Executive Sous Chef. In 2003 he became Executive Chef at the AAA Four Diamond Intercontinental Mark Hopkins in San Francisco, California.

The Ritz-Carlton, Boston Common is van Hooijdonk’s first chef’s post in the Northeast, and he is eager to immerse himself in the local cuisine. “I look forward to infusing my global influences with the traditions and flavors of New England cooking, taking advantage of local, seasonal ingredients,” says the Chef, who intends to work closely with local purveyors.

When not in the kitchen, Chef van Hooijdonk can be found riding his motorcycle, creating charcoal portraits, honing his skills on the golf course and, of course, perusing his extensive cookbook collection for ideas on the next great dish.