Lawrence D. Brubaker

I accepted this position of Executive Sous Chef after turning down the position of Executive Pastry Chef. I was hired in this role to assist the opening of Cataloochee Ranch while also assisting in daily operations of The Swag resort, a sister property located over the next ridge. Maintained Relais & Châteaux standards with the team at The Swag and was instrumental in achieving the rating at Cataloochee before the grand opening took place. Selected, onboarded, and trained new staff to high professional standards. Collaborated in the creation of menus, room service, breakfast lunch and dinner menus and their implementation and presentation. Instrumental in opening procedures of Cataloochee property opening inspections, collaborating with contractors and other team members to meet rigid deadlines. Responsible for assisting the Executive Chef in ordering large quantities of small wares and being the relay with overseas contractors, and taking the lead on inspecting and ensuring the proper operation of new equipment purchased for the culinary department, including successfully preventing negative outcomes by taking decisive action to rectify and resolve critical issues before they escalated.
In summary, like any food and beverage operation, the volume of items that needed to be addressed prior to the grand opening of Cataloochee Ranch is too great to list in a few paragraphs but I would be more than happy to discuss them further

As founding co-owner of Luckhaus & Brubaker pastry shop in Charleston, South Carolina, the sheer amount of responsibilities between my partner and myself prohibit describing them in this paragraph, however I'm happy to elaborate during an interview process. Food and beverage executives would certainly understand the vast amount of issues that have to be dealt with in opening a small business for the first time and marketing it to the public successfully. Luckhaus & Brubaker is still in existence and thriving today maintaining its high reputation in Charleston. The groundwork that was laid for this entity was a 50/50 collaboration between myself and my partner with each of us excelling in our areas of expertise. Additionally, while owning and operating LB's I was heavily involved in civic charitable events including more than eight years of being involved in the Charleston Chocolate Affair raising funds for Charleston County School District as well as the Ronald McDonald House and various other fundraisers.

As a corporate entity with multiple locations under the same ownership, the Executive Pastry Chef position at The Sanctuary on Kiawah Island was standard for the industry. I was responsible for collaborating with the HR department regarding hiring and other matters. I was responsible for budgeting, forecasting, training, menu creation and implementation, traveling, I represented The Sanctuary at various events such as fundraisers, social events, and hiring events at The Culinary Institute of America. While at The Sanctuary I reshaped the pastry program from what I would consider outdated to bringing it up to speed for future pastry chefs. I have maintained a relationship with the Executive Chef of The Sanctuary for many years and have assisted him in hiring pastry chefs after leaving to open my business.

My time at Old Edwards Inn in Highlands, North Carolina was one of the most challenging executive culinary jobs I had had to that point in my life; the standards were extremely high and are still today. The Executive Chef who hired me employed me in a dual role as Executive Sous Chef and Executive Pastry Chef for the resort. These duties included servicing all the outlets, off-site catering, and our catering facility at The Farm at Old Edwards. In my role I was responsible for hiring, training, and implementing everything involved in the pastry process for Old Edwards which included a large wedding cake program, the a la carte service for Madison's restaurant, the banquet plated desserts the Rib Shack and its Southern Flair desserts. Beyond taking care of the pastry program and executing a large amount of the work I was also responsible for all other food-related activities at OEI with the description mirroring the description for the Executive Sous Chef at Cataloochee Ranch in many ways.