Kenneth Gilbert has been named executive chef of the AAA Four Diamond property, PGA National Resort & Spa, and will oversee the resort’s culinary operation.

Currently a season seven contestant on Bravo’s Emmy Award-winning series Top Chef, Gilbert comes to PGA National, which is located in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., from Capella Telluride where he was executive chef for the ultra-luxury Colorado resort.

With more than 17 years in the industry, Gilbert has been invited to cook at the James Beard House in New York on multiple occasions. At 23, he became the youngest African American chef to run a Ritz-Carlton Hotel restaurant at the AAA Five-Diamond Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island.

“We’re honored to have a chef as talented and highly sought-after as Kenny join the PGA National team,” says Joel Paige, vice president and managing director of PGA National. “As the television audience has seen on ‘Top Chef’ episodes week after week, he possesses tremendous skills in the kitchen, exhibits grace under pressure and shows a strong desire to help other members of his profession succeed.”

Gilbert was named “Star Chef of the Year” by The Chef’’s Garden and Culinary Vegetable Institute in 2005 and won The Food Network’s “Ready, Set Cook” challenge in Jacksonville in 2001.
He previously served as the executive chef for the BallenIsles Country Club and The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club and Spa, Jupiter, where he introduced 115 Prime Steak House. He is a graduate of the Pennsylvania Culinary Institute in Pittsburg.

Gilbert will be responsible for all menus and food concepts including casual fine dining in the Ironwood Grille and lighter resort fare in the iBAR lobby lounge. He will create health conscious cuisine for the elegant “Waters of the World” at The Spa at PGA National Resort, and specific cuisine for other resort eateries under his domain including: Wave Poolside Grille, Citrus Tree, The Bear Trap and The 19th hole.

_Photo courtesy of Bravo.