JW MarriottStarr Pass Announces New Exec Chef

Daniel Perez, a six-year veteran of Starr Pass, earns Exec Chef position

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. February 02, 2011

February 1, 2011 - After 16 years in the food industry and six years with JW Marriott® Starr Pass Resort & Spa, Daniel Perez has earned the top culinary spot at the Tucson resort: Executive Chef. The Scottsdale Culinary Art School graduate will oversee the resort's entire culinary department, including five on-site restaurants - Primo, Signature Grill, Catalina Barbeque Co. & Sports Bar, Salud and Plunge - plus banquet and catering services. Perez will work with executive sous chefs, banquet chefs and chefs de cuisine throughout the resort designing and planning menus and managing food preparation, quality control, and culinary budgeting.

It's a big job, Perez admits, but an exciting one. “Right now we're ramping up for spring and summer. We're putting together a summer menu for Plunge, our restaurant by the pool, featuring indigenous raspados,” he said. Raspados are refreshing drinks featuring shaved ice, fruit and sometimes spirits.

In addition, Perez is working with Melissa Kelly, Primo's Executive Chef, to roll out a brand new Primo happy hour menu.

“We're also continuing our barbeque cooking classes and wine pairing seminars,” he added.

Perez is no stranger to spending time in the kitchen. He helped his grandparents in the kitchen as a child, and as a teenager, began his career in the food industry washing dishes at Cafe Melange on Tucson's east side. It was there he realized that cooking would be his calling. After working at several high-volume restaurants in the area, Perez enrolled in the culinary program at the Scottsdale Culinary Institute, earning an Associate Degree in Culinary Arts and working as lead cook at the Royal Palms Resort in Phoenix. After culinary school, Perez returned to Tucson where, following three years as Sous Chef at Black Angus, he joined JW Marriott® Starr Pass as a kitchen supervisor at the Signature Grill. He spent the next six years moving up and working toward his goal of obtaining the position of executive chef at Starr Pass.

For interviews with Executive Chef Daniel Perez, please call the contacts above. For more information about JW Marriott® Starr Pass Resort & Spa and the resort's five on-site restaurants, please visit http://www.jwmarriottstarrpass.com/.

About JW Marriott®Starr Pass Resort & Spa
Starr Pass is one of Arizona's finest resorts, awarded the AAA Four Diamond Award for the resort property and its Primo restaurant for six consecutive years, and named one of the top 100 large resorts in the mainland United States through Conde Nast Traveler 2010 Readers' Choice Awards. The largest resort in Southern Arizona, Starr Pass features 575 spacious guest rooms, 88,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, a 20,000 sq. ft. spa, five restaurants, four separate pools, a lazy river and water slide, the Audubon Certified, 27-hole Arnold Palmer Signature golf facility, two lit tennis courts and 888 underground and covered parking spaces. The resort's eco-friendly efforts extend to Primo, which serves only organic and jet fresh fish, and the Hashani Spa, which uses natural desert plant oils. The resort incorporates the natural desert into its landscape design and features direct access to Tucson Mountain Park for memorable hiking and biking trails. To quote Bill Marriott, “you can build all types of amenities but it would be impossible to duplicate what Starr Pass has, the Tucson Mountain Park.” The JW Marriott® Starr Pass Resort & Spa is located at 3800 W. Starr Pass and can be reached directly by calling (520) 792-3500. Please visit http://www.jwmarriottstarrpass.com/.