Chef’s tables are turning at two neighboring clubs on the north barrier island.
While residents were doing their summer supping elsewhere, Windsor Club posted an ad for a new executive sous-chef to fill the shoes of Brian Jones, the longtime clogs-on-the-ground captain of the kitchen there.
Meanwhile, next door at Orchid Island Golf and Beach Club, one white-coated applicant for the executive chef job was getting a walk-through before the Beach Club’s dinner service Friday.
A private club culinary placement firm, David Meyers and Associates, posted the Orchid opening July 26, with an extensive description of Orchid’s dining facilities, including mention of its $600,000 labor budget.
Five days later, the Windsor post went up through a different firm.
“Tired of New York Chicago LA or metropolitan scene? Ready to take you ‘A’ game to a new and unique environment?” the Aug. 1 posting by the hospitality consulting firm, the Dorn Group, reads. “Windsor may be the place for you.”
For many years, Windsor was a career-defining gig for Chef Brian Jones, a local boy who rose to the next-to-the-top spot after working for the family of Windsor founders, Galen and Hilary Weston. Jones managed the day-to-day operations while Windsor branded its culinary offerings with a big name chef, Stéphane Becht, appointed two years ago. Becht, a native of Alsace, France, was the executive chef at the legendary Pierre Hotel in New York, and before that, the Blue Door at Miami’s famed Delano hotel.
But the daily grind fell to Jones, a Sebastian resident whose father Roger works as a Windsor security guard. Jones is reportedly planning to start a catering business.
On the change at Orchid, there was no immediate word on the plans of Larsen, a veteran private club chef who began his career as a line cook at the Oak Room at the Plaza Hotel. He went on to work in clubs including Burning Tree in Greenwich, CT, Silver Spring in Ridgefield, CT and the Scarsdale Golf Club.
The decision to end his brief Orchid tenure was reportedly due to member surveys that showed diners were disappointed with his efforts, though that came as a surprise to at least one member. “I thought everybody really liked him.”
Windsor diners will have to adjust, too. ”I know people who always asked, ‘Have Brian season it. He knows the way I like it,’” said one resident, taken aback at the news of Jones’ departure. “I don’t think anybody knows this. Everyone’s away.”
