ike many hotel F&B executives, Andrew Roenbeck did his fair share of moving to advance his career. And even though he traveled to top destinations as part of Interstate Hotels & Resorts’ task force to open new hotels back in the 1980s, Roenbeck says he and his wife felt most at home in Boca Raton, Florida, where Interstate was based. And he wondered whether one day he could work at the famed Boca Raton Resort & Club.

“I always looked at the Boca Raton Resort. It is the center of town. It is the mecca,” Roenbeck recalls. “Boy, oh boy, I would say to myself. Would I have the skill set to work there? Could I work at such a prestigious place?”

While growing up, Roenbeck’s afterschool and summer jobs were all in foodservice. But it wasn’t until his junior year in high school when his dad broached the idea that he seriously considered becoming a professional chef.

“My father and grandfather actually did all the cooking. I grew up watching them cook in the house,” Roenbeck says.

In 1982, Roenbeck graduated from the Culinary Institute of America and immediately went to work for Hershey Entertainment & Resorts, followed by a six-year tenure with Interstate. His reputation for successful new hotel launches preceded him, and in 1989, he was hired to help open the Trump Taj Mahal. After 18 months there, the opportunity arose for him to become executive chef at a private Boca Raton country club.

It was the contacts he’d made over the years that opened the door to the Boca Raton Resort and the position as executive sous chef, overseeing all banquet operations. His mission was to “change and improve all banquet operations.”

“Our goal is to give clients who come to the Boca Raton Resort for their banquet and catering needs the same exact experience as if they dined at the best restaurant in the city,” Roenbeck says. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a two-top, five-top, sixtop, or a banquet for 800, 1,000, or 1,500, our banquet food is on par with any à la carte restaurant.”

As executive chef, Roenbeck is responsible for 18 on-site kitchens and bakeries. Fifteen “area chefs” who run the individual outlets, along with 325 cooks, report directly to him. “Challenges” are what get his creative juices flowing.

“When a client says, ‘we want everything,’ that gets my energy and creativity going,” Roenbeck says. “One of our best attributes from a culinary side of things is the depth and experience we have on property. We can achieve anything that anyone is looking to do.”

Even with some 680 helping hands, Roenbeck continues to be a hands-on chef, calling his “vertical chopper mixer” one of his favorite kitchen tools, especially for marinades and salad dressings.

“It's like a 10-gallon Cuisinart,” Roenbeck says. Another Roenbeck favorite is using glass sheets or blocks for presentation, because they produce “very clean and very elegant” looks. The property also enjoys the wizardry of Master Ice Carver Dean Carlson, another way Boca’s banquets and catering stand out in a highly competitive industry.

He adds that the property is starting to phase out its use of sterno, replacing it with more induction-type equipment, both in the front and back of the house. This renovation is part of an extensive refurbishment undertaken by LXR Luxury Resorts & Hotels and its owner, affiliates of Blackstone Real Estate Advisors, to exceed guest expectations, Roenbeck says.

“These renovations are designed to give guests the best food, the best product, and the best service,” Roenbeck says.

Among these changes is a shift to a blend of resort-run operations supported by outlets led by internationally acclaimed legends in the kitchen. At press time, Masaharu Morimoto of Iron Chef fame was on track to open his first-ever sushi bar bearing his name, directly off the Resort’s Piazza. This expands the lobby food concept, which Roenbeck says is in keeping with the LXR approach. Another change will be the total renovation of the Beach Club into a spectacular outdoor banquet venue accessible by the Intracoastal Waterway.

At age 44, Roenbeck says retirement isn’t in his near future. But when he’s ready to hang up his executive chef hat, he can picture himself as a professor/ instructor at a world-class culinary school.

And future culinarians would be fortunate to have Roenbeck, who’s in a class by himself, head their class.