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| Our Staff |
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Andrew Black, Executive Chef
“Cooking is an art. Have fun with it,” is Chef Andrew’s motto. He believes in breaking the traditional rules and letting the creative juices flow. When it comes to food and cooking, that means combining a variety of cuisines to create an unexpected taste. Black’s breezy culinary approach mirrors his approach to life itself, and is no doubt a direct result of his island upbringing.
Currently Chef Andrew is executive chef of the Skirvin Hilton Hotel. He moved to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in January of 2007 to reopen this historical 4 diamond Hotel. There he is in charge of overseeing all banquet and restaurant daily operations and high profile functions.
A native of Jamaica, Andrew started at the expansive, all-inclusive resorts of SuperClubs where he worked as executive sous chef. Andrew also work at the Varadero Resort in Cuba , the Grand Lido resort & Spa in Negril.
Chef Andrew then moved on to another Caribbean resort the Sandals Beaches Resort & Spa in Providencialas, Turks and Caicos as executive sous chef. At the Sandals’ largest property with nine restaurants, Chef Andrew saw endless opportunities to
create new recipes in a globe-trotting array of cuisines, from French and Mediterranean to Japanese and Southwestern.
Throughout his traveling and cooking in various parts of the world, Chef Andrew competed frequently in cooking competitions and won a neck-full of gold, silver and bronze medals, including the Gold Medal in the Annual Culinary Arts Competition in 1998 and the Silver Medal in the Taste of Caribbean Hot Food Competition in 1999.
Chef Andrew spent most of his culinary career traveling the world cooking before joining The Peabody as executive sous chef, their he over saw the banquet operations for high – profile events and the menu for the Peabody capriccio grill Italian steak house , and chez philippe,the French – asian restaurant.
In the summer of 2006, Chef Andrew completed his culinary training at the legendary Ritz in Paris France .
Chef Andrew has been a member of the American Culinary Federation since 1994.
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Mickey Skrede, Restaurant Manager
Mickey comes to the Park Avenue Grill from the Capitol Chophouse in Madison Wisconsin. Mickey moved to Oklahoma City shortly after the opening of the restaurant; calling home in the historic Mesta Park neighborhood. Although receiving Bachelors Degrees from University of Wisconsin in the Arts, he was drawn to the hospitality industry. Prior to joining the management team at the Mason Street Grill Mickey was the Front of House Manager at L’Etoile, a nationally recognized James Beard Award winning restaurant in Madison Wisconsin.
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Corey Crawford, Restaurant Chef
Corey Crawford, Restaurant Chef at The Park Ave Grill in The Skirvin Hilton, was raised in Chicago Illinois, where he was grew up in Kitchen all through the City.
From early on, Crawford knew he enjoyed creating food to please his friends and family. Taking advice from his Grandmother, Corey decided to make sure he would like working in a professional kitchen and applied for the job as a prep cook at Trotter’s, Chicago.
Crawford didn't just like it, he loved it and his professional career was born.
After 5 years in Chicago kitchens, Corey moved to Las Vegas to assist with the opening of Aquaknox in the Venetian Resort, were he began he serious culinary study under Famed Chef Tom Maloney.
After 2 years of working at Aquaknox and gaining a Sous Chef position, Corey moved to the MGM Grand to assist in opening the 5 star 5 diamond Skylofts at the MGM, always looking to learn as much as he can, Corey accepted a Sous Chef Position at Shibuya in the MGM were he was mentored by Chef Stephan Chevette and through Chef Chevette Corey was introduced to Joel Robuchon were Corey spent 2 and a half years honing his culinary knowledge in one of the top kitchens in the United States.
Prior to leaving Las Vegas, Corey spent 9 more months with the MGM GRAND working through out there entire Food and Beverage Department which included stints with Craftsteak, The Grand Garden Arena and MGM Convention Center.
Corey considers himself a student of cuisine from many cultures, and remains infinitely interested in how food works and what makes our senses crave for more.
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