Courtesy of: Aruba Daily
Chef Garcia just recently joined the culinary brigade at the Renaissance Resorts in Oranjestad, where he will be in charge of its flagship restaurant, an American Steakhouse, and the USDA-inspected Certified Angus Beef headquarters on the island; the L.G. Smith’s Steak & Chop House.
Originally from Venezuela with a strong French and later Spanish cooking orientation the chef is on a mission to introduce bolder and bigger flavors to the favorite downtown steakhouse – think onions, garlic, wine, fresh herbs and butter – such as in the Big Oscar Prime Top Sirloin, Certified Angus Beef, topped with scampi King crab, tiger shrimp, poached lobster and lobster Hollandaise; or the Steakhouse Chop Salad with more than 10 delectable ingredients including applewood smoked bacon and aged cheddar.
The chef graduated with honors from the Culinary Arts School in Venezuela where he was lauded for design, complexity and presentation, also furthering his training as a Sommelier, at the same school. The funny thing is, he says, he arrived in the kitchen after finishing university with a degree in Public Accounting. Having explored some rather dull career opportunities he decided to switch gears, and convert his hobby into a full time career.
“I was blessed,” he explains, “having worked with some great chefs at Amuse Bistro in Aruba under the guidance of an accomplished proprietor/chef, and prior to that, at the Hotel Tamanaco Intercontinental, in Venezuela, where I held a number of top positions, mentored by Venezuela’s most famous chefs.”
Between promotions, Garcia travelled to Europe and further honed his skills at the 2 Michelin stars, Mugaritz restaurant, at the 3 Michelin star El Celler de Can Roca restaurant, and at the 3 Michelin star Akelare restaurant, all three renowned establishments in Spain.
Having perfected his trade overseas, he settled in Aruba, enjoying the quality of life and the serenity which comes with island living.
Garcia is proud to report that on a sellout Valentine’s day, L.G. Smith’s Steak & Chop House served giant porterhouse steaks for two, slow cooked for 24 hours, and on the occasion of the restaurant’s 10th anniversary, he introduced an irresistible dinner special packing diners in with the promise of great food, delivering complete customer satisfaction.
On the anniversary menu, a chef’s selection of five appetizers, nine main courses including such standouts as Certified Angus Beef Prime Top Sirloin Baseball, a flavorful, juicy and tender cut, Surf & Turf, and a Vegetarian Wellington, besides eight interesting sides, and four dessert choices, for the incredible price of $40.-, 2nd person pays just $10.
The too-good-to-be-true deal, is true, and you are invited to try it in the stylish and contemporary dining room located next to Crystal Casino, before midnight, April 10th, 2014.
Valentine’s Day and the restaurant’s anniversary marked the first two of many events planned including the revival of the popular brunch, planned to debut in April, one Sunday each month.
Down the road a complete new menu re-launch is planned as well as the introduction of slow-cooking.
In between, the chef orchestrated a giant cook out at Wema Goes Memphis, a local BBQ and cookout competition with great prizes, surprising all festival goers with an amazing rib recipe.
Kelvyn jokingly recounts he made cooking his life-long career because his busy single working mom never properly fed him, for lack of time. He had to fend for himself in the kitchen, which he did, and still does, very successfully if we may add.
