Colombian native Felipe Arango Salazar has been appointed Chef de Cuisine at Bistro One LR restaurant inside The Ritz-Carlton, South Beach, announced Bernd Schmitt, Executive Chef at the 375-room oceanfront resort.

Born and raised in Bogota to a family of professional artists, Arango looks to cuisine as his artistic expression, sees it with a painter’s vision and takes ideas from pieces of art as he transforms it for the plate and palate. Initially intending to leave art as a hobby, Arango instead put three years of business studies on the back burner in 2000 and left University of Bogota for Spain to begin formal culinary training at the Escuela de Hosteleria de Seville. His passion for food and love of Mediterranean cuisine was further inflamed by the passion Spaniards have for culinary arts. Says Arango, “I chose Spain because of its amazing chefs, culinary reputation and culture and because they are incredibly passionate about food and about life.” There in the heart of Andalucia, he flourished and enhanced his culinary specialties and respect for the product, “to simply grill,” he says, “to enhance natural flavors.”

Arango’s culinary journey kept him in Spain, where he studied with Julio Fernandez, who later opened the only Michelin-star restaurant in Seville. In 2006, Arango worked alongside Spanish culinary master and Michelin three-star chef Paco Perez at Enoteca restaurant and Michelin two-star chef Sergi Arola at his eponymous restaurant that specialized in tapas with a modernist touch. Arango then joined Hotel Arts Barcelona and rose through the ranks as a banquet and catering sous chef in 2008, and the Chef de Cuisine for Veranda restaurant in 2010, while concurrently lending his talent to Ritz-Carlton openings around the world, including Ritz-Carlton Dubai International Financial Center and The Ritz-Carlton, Abama in Tenerife. Every year, he vacationed in Miami. On his final trip in 2008, he said to himself, “this is where I want to be.”

Jason Morale takes the cake as the new Executive Pastry Chef at The Ritz-Carlton, South Beach, responsible for overseeing all aspects of the pastry department including the creation of dessert menus for the hotel’s two signature restaurants, banquet functions, in-room dining, special events and specialty wedding cakes, announced Bernd Schmitt, Executive Chef at the 375-room oceanfront resort.

While many children spent Saturday mornings riding their bicycles around the neighborhood, Jason Morale was riding shotgun in his father’s delivery truck dropping off produce at all of the major supermarkets and restaurants in town. Growing up with an entrepreneurial dad, the co-owner of Morale Brothers, one of South Florida’s leading produce businesses, meant that Jason had the rare opportunity to interact with a variety of chefs and receive an informal education in the importance of fresh ingredients. Without realizing it, Jason entered the first stage in a career that would take him from delivery boy to accomplished pastry chef.

In 1996 at 16 years old, Jason gave up his seat in his father’s truck and accepted a part-time position working at a Publix bakery while attending high school. Jason’s responsibilities included everything from kneading dough and baking traditional baguettes to piping icing on birthday cakes and meticulously adding chocolate edging to Italian canolies. He developed a love for the sweeter side of cooking, which inspired him to enroll a special culinary vocational program designed for high school students to hone their cooking skills from expert pastry chefs. Following the successful completion of the program and high school graduation, Jason continued his culinary education attending Johnson and Wales University in 1998, during which time he received on the job training overseas in Eastern European Pastry technique at Do & Co International Catering Company in Vienna, Austria. Jason learned to make traditional European delicacies including marzipan, ice creams and sorbets and assisted in the creation of a seasonal dessert menu for the Hass House, a 5-star restaurant associated to the catering company.

In November 2011, Jason returned to the United States to complete his education and begin work as the dining room pastry chef at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort in Naples. In 2003, Jason graduated with an Associates degree in culinary arts, baking and pastry arts and within months accepted a chef de partie position at The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco. In the mornings, he would supervise a small pastry team ensuring the dessert items served at banquet events for the 5-diamond hotel’s four food and beverage outlets were exceptional. By night, Jason created special desserts and cakes for the hundreds of elaborate weddings. Within one year, Jason returned to south Florida to become the chef de partie at The Ritz-Carlton, South Beach, creating menus for the exclusive club level lounge, VIP amenities and wedding cakes. In August 2005, Jason accepted his first lead role as head pastry chef with Wish, a chic upscale eatery recognized by Conde Nast Traveler as one of 50 Best New restaurants in the world. Jason hand-crafted all the dessert menus for the restaurant and banquet events, created specialty wedding cakes, amenities and show-pieces and participated in a number of high profile events and competitions including preparing an elaborate dessert for a James beard dinner in New York City. In 2007, Jason left Wish to work as the assistant pastry chef at the 4-star, 5-diamond, Four Seasons in Houston, Texas. Two years in later in 2009, he joined the culinary team as the Executive Pastry Chef at the Four Seasons in Palm Beach. In 2011, Jason made his final return to south Florida to The Ritz-Carlton, South Beach as the executive pastry chef. Armed with extensive training an exceptional talent and passion for creating one-of-a-kind wedding cakes, Jason looks forward to enhancing the resorts’ personalized wedding packages by offering specially-designed wedding cakes that create memories for a lifetime.