 |
|||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||
 |
| She’s the executive sous
chef overseeing the Ritz-Carlton’s Beach
Club Grill at its newest venue, The
Members Beach Club. Fresh out of The
Scottsdale Culinary Institute, she had an
“externship” at the well-known Santa Fe
landmark, the Coyote Café owned by
celebrity chef Mark Miller.
With the
Coyote’s Executive Chef Jeff Drew as her
mentor, she started as a salad cook and
worked her way up to becoming sous
chef. Dakota uses the word “Nice” to describe the process of coming in “at the lowest then working my way up.” Why? Because she knows she learned so much— albeit the hard way. And she notes with some pride, “There had never been a female chef in that kitchen” prior to her ascension. Dakota’s nine-year career is more like a habanero than a poblano to continue the chile metaphor. From the Coyote Café she moved to Dallas and worked at the Mansion on Turtle Creek with Chef Dean Fearing. She made a gutsy, but ultimately career-enhancing move in her next stop, Atlanta. With the Here to Serve Restaurant Group (an Atlanta-based company that owns many popular area restaurants) she became sous chef at Noche. While at Noche she persisted in getting a job at The Dining Room at The Ritz- Carlton, Buckhead, a Mobil Five-Star, AAA Five-Diamond restaurant (one of only 13 in the U.S.) where she was able to work with Bruno Menard, the Chef de Cuisine. The persistence paid off, but at a price. She went from management back to “line” and took a subsequent pay cut as well just to get the experience. Leaving Noche also meant saying “adios” to strictly southwestern cuisine — something she was ready for. With Bruno’s help she heard about the opening in Sarasota and “auditioned” for the job. Like many in her field, her tastes and her work are both eclectic. In her own words, she says, “I try to recreate traditional regional dishes adding a personal flair, to ... allow my guests to experience a unique range of cultures. |
In my cuisine, my attempt is to create traditional and comforting food while incorporating often times surprising and hopefully pleasant flourishes that may lead my guests to change the way they think about the relationships between flavors and textures.” Dakota’s take on regional means Asian, Cuban, Mexican (where she briefly lived as a child), Floridian and the south—a real melange. Her latest menu has entrees like salmon served with fried green tomatoes and jambalaya risotto, for example. Her philosophy on cuisine and food? “I allow a simplicity and rusticated elegance to prevail in my cuisine, focusing on finding the best ingredients and respecting their flavors while preparing them. This may be an antiquated notion with the prevailing radical deconstructionist tendencies in today’s cuisine. I still operate under the tenet that food should be a pure expression, not a puzzle to be flummoxed by. I want my guests to really sense the vibrant freshness of gulf snapper or the verdancy of snap peas. I think that discovering and experimenting with new and unfamiliar ingredients of the region, while updating homespun classics makes for a truly contemporary style of cooking. Whether it’s Floribbean or Veracruzan, my dishes strive to please on a visceral level and stimulate on a more enlightened one.” Whew. Maybe one can tell her mother is not only a good cook, but is also a writer. Dakota knows Sarasota is a steak and potato town, but the world at the Ritz- Carlton’s Beach Club is one unto itself. Dining patrons are either staying at the mainland Ritz-Carlton or are condo owners at the Beach Club. Sadly, the restaurant isn’t open to the public. Her domain — the kitchen — is run not a la Gordon Ramsay, but more like summer camp — lots of team-building, contests, quizzes and, for a busy place — lots of fun. In addition, Chef Weiss is responsible for pool and beachside dining, and all of the club’s banquet and catering functions. |
When the condos are complete that will include room service as well. As you can imagine a chef’s hours are numerous, and hers give her just Mondays off. She typically arrives at 9 and leaves 12 hours later. Like all modern chefs these days, her day starts at the computer but may also include butchering meat and fish, something she “loves.” The Executive Chef at the Ritz-Carlton is Fred Morineau while the Executive Sous Chef is John Signorelli who both okay her menus which change four times a year. In December it will be Dakota’s second anniversary with the Beach Club and her first real season as the condos will be done and people will fill the dining room. Evenings she “walks” the dining room and speaks to diners. Her word is perhaps less than Ritz-Carlton sounding. She thinks of patrons as “guinea pigs,” yet says so with a smile. She’ll create a new combination, refine it over and over, test it by seeing what patrons have to say, and then make final adjustments. She describes her food as what one would imagine she’s like: “fun.” Only when suggested does she somewhat agree to the word “eclectic.” While she “loves” Asian cuisine, she admits she couldn’t choose one specific type of food as her favorite. Dakota lives with her husband, David, within walking distance to the Beach Club, and when not working the twosome like it nice and easy. In Atlanta, David was a financial advisor, but now in Sarasota, he’s back in “the biz” as a bartender at the Chart House. The two have a dream of owning their own restaurant “maybe in five years.” In their precious off-hours they like to kick back and relax when not working, but have been known to forage downtown for sushi or drop into “divey places.” Actually, Dakota prefers “any cuisine people put their heart and soul into...that’s exquisite.” STORY: Louise Bruderle PHOTOS: Barbara Banks |