50 Eggs Restaurant Group, which operates Yardbird Southern Table & Bar in Miami Beach, has hired two former “Top Chef” contestants as it rolls out a variety of seafood and Asian concepts in its hometown of Miami.
Kenny Gilbert, former executive chef of Nippers Grill in Jacksonville Beach, Fla., and a participant in the seventh season of the popular Bravo TV series, is the group’s new corporate chef.
Berenice de Araujo, who was on the ninth season of “Top Chef,” has been brought on as a consulting chef at Yardbird. Most recently, she was chef de cuisine at Sra. Martinez in Miami.
Bill Rosenberg, who was the chef-owner of F.I.S.H. Restaurant in Port Chester, N.Y., is the new executive chef at the Radisson Hotel in New Rochelle, N.Y.
Damon Gordon is the new executive chef of the recently renovated Water Grill in Los Angeles. The native of Great Britain most recently worked at the Jefferson Hotel in Washington, D.C.
David Schmidt is leaving his position as executive chef of L’Auberge de Sedona, in Sedona, Ariz., to become executive chef of that city’s Enchantment Resort and Mii amo Spa. Schmidt studied culinary arts and foodservice management at Scottsdale Culinary Institute in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Jemil Gadea is the new pastry chef at Bibiana Osteria-Enoteca in Washington, D.C. Most recently an assistant pastry chef at Picasso at the Bellagio Resort Hotel in Las Vegas, Gadea’s signature desserts include chocolate mousse with chocolate sable, dolci di latte gelato and fleur de sel; and coconut semifreddo with coconut macaroon, persimmon salad and chia seeds.
Michael Sindoni has been named executive chef at Charlie Palmer at The Joule in Dallas. Most recently he was executive chef of Againn, a British Isles bistro in Washington, D.C.
The graduate of Johnson & Wales University also spent time in Italy, where he worked at Il Cebreo in Florence and interned at Tenuta di Spannocchia in Siena, where he learned to butcher indigenous pigs and prepare traditional salumi.
Reagan Angelle, former executive chef at The Palm’s New York City location, is the new executive chef of Gravy, a modern Southern restaurant in the same city. There, the Louisiana native is making items such as chicken and housemade andouille gumbo, corn-fried Blue Point oysters with braised purple cabbage and pickled green bean salad, and grilled Berkshire pork chop with red bean and corn succotash.
Shane Schaibly is the new corporate chef of Front Burner Brands, headquartered in Tampa, which owns The Melting Pot, Burger 21 and GrillSmith restaurant brands.
Most recently the director for food and beverage of The Melting Pot Restaurants Inc., Schaibly, a native of Dunedin, Fla., graduated at the top of his class from Johnson & Wales University’s North Miami campus.
Editor's note: This story updates that Damon Gordon most recently worked at the Jefferson Hotel in Washington, D.C.
Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected].
Follow him on Twitter: @foodwriterdiary