 New Executive Chefs and a Food & Beverage Executive attending a famous professional Foodie Summit. This edition of Food & Beverage Spotlight is a short update on some of the Kitchen News in the Meetings Industry.
Hawaii Convention Center F&B Services Now Silver
 The latest sign that Convention Center Cuisine continues to upgrade can be seen and tasted in the Pacific. The Hawaii Convention Center has promoted Jacob Silver to the position of executive chef. Silver, who has over 20 years of culinary experience in Hawaii, New York and France, has been Center’s banquet chef for the last seven years. In his new role, Silver is responsible for all aspects of food production including menu development, purchasing, preparation and distribution.
Silver earned acquired resume prior to going to the SMG-managed, Hawaii Convention Center. e is an honors graduate of the New York City College of Technology where he received a Bachelor of Technology, Hospitality Management degree and was awarded the prestigious James Beard Foundation/Gilbert Le Coze Grant, which meant a yearlong apprenticeship in France with Alain Ducasse, a chef with an international following. Silver then went on to work with Ducasse at the Essex House in New York. He also went through an ”accelerated apprenticeship” of one month at the world famous Restaurant Masa in New York City under celebrated Chef Masayoshi Takayama, who rarely takes on apprentices. Other New York restaurants where Silver has done serious Kitchen Tim include: The Peacock Alley at the Waldorf Astoria and The 21 Club.
The Hawaii Convention Center – “Where Business and Aloha Meet”-- opened in June 1998 and is consistently recognized by meeting planners and conventioneers as the world’s most desirable convention and meetings destination. The Center features 1.1 million square feet of total space to include: 35,000-square-foot lobby, 103,610 square feet of total meeting space (47 rooms, 2 theaters), 10 executive meeting rooms 35,259- square-foot. ballroom, divisible into 3 sections and a 204,249- square-foot Exhibit Hall.
Benchmark VP/F&B Attends Greystone Summit
Giorgi Di Lemis, Vice President of Food & Beverage of Benchmark Hospitality International, was invited recently by The Culinary Institute of America to Napa Valley as part of a select group of food and beverage to attend the renowned Greystone Flavor Summit in Napa.
Each year, the Greystone Flavor Summit brings together F&B executives, Chiefs and Professional Foodies to discuss Food Service Industry and culinary issues. The group collectively explores and  tastes its way through a critical set of flavor, kitchen and dining issues during the three-day summit. The event also included culinary celebrities Michael Chiarello, Food Network personality; Masaharu Morimoto, well-known New York Chef, and Iron Chef star; and Farmer Lee Jones of the renowned Chef's Garden.
Giorgi Di Lemis is vice president food & beverage for Benchmark Hospitality International. Di Lemis is a member of the President’s Club for Toastmasters International, of the prestigious Confrérie de la Chaîne des Rôtisseurs, and the World Association of Chefs Societies. Prior to joining Benchmark, held executive F&B positions at Gaylord Hotels and the luxury resort division of Wyndham Hotels and Resorts.
De Pirro Joins Hotel Granduca as Exec Chef
Renato De Pirro has been appointed executive chef for the Hotel Granduca, a Benchmark Hospitality International property in Houston, Texas. “It is indeed a pleasure to welcome Renato to Hotel  Granduca,” said Mary Grace Gray, General Manger. “Italian by birth, he brings a distinctive European influence and cutting edge culinary techniques to our hotel and to our award-winning Ristorante Cavour.”
Renato De Pirro comes to Hotel Granduca with over 20 years of exemplary culinary experience, including 10 years within the United States, most recently as Executive Chef at Osteria del Circo, the Tuscan restaurant at Bellagio Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. Other Vegas gigs include Terra Rossa at the Rock Resort & Casino and the Grill at Valentino.
Considered one of Houston’s premier, luxury boutique hotels Hotel Granduca features 123 luxuriously appointed accommodations and suites and 1,200+ square feet of exclusive function space,
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