Spencer Taylor Memorial Scholarship Fundraiser
Jason Weaver
Jason C. Weaver, most recently Executive Chef at New York’s posh Mandarin Oriental, is the new Executive Chef of
The Adolphus hotel, whose multimillion-dollar food and beverage operation includes the five-star
French Room and
one of the top catering venues in Dallas/Fort Worth. Tom E. Garcia, managing director of The Adolphus, made the
announcement. “We couldn’t be more pleased with our choice to lead The Adolphus culinary team,” he said. “Chef
Weaver’s career spans nearly a decade of fine dining preparation and execution at some of America’s top hotels
and restaurants. His depth of experience and creativity will ensure that the hotel maintains its national and
regional rankings in food and wine for many years to come.”
The French Room, which earned Gourmet magazine’s top ranking for the Dallas/Fort Worth region for three consecutive
years, features a menu rich in fresh seasonal ingredients and a wine list that recently earned Wine Spectator’s Award
of Excellence. Under the direction of Executive Chef Jason Weaver, The French Room has taken classic techniques and
adapted them to ever-evolving American tastes. Guests of this rococo restaurant enjoy modern American cuisine prepared
using classical French cooking techniques. Executive Chef Jason Weaver leads a culinary team of internationally trained
chefs and cooks.
Nationally recognized and critically acclaimed, The French Room at The Adolphus has been described by the New York Times
as “a Louis XV fantasy on the prairie . . . indisputably the most striking and sumptuous restaurant in Dallas.” Readers
of Gourmet Magazine have rated the dining room one of America’s “Top Tables” and the best restaurant in Dallas/Fort Worth.
It consistently earns “extraordinary to perfection” ratings in Zagat, besting all other Metroplex restaurants for food,
service and décor in the latest survey.
The French Room’s “29” Zagat food rating places it among a select group of restaurants nationwide. The 2006/2007
Zagat Survey named it the #1 hotel restaurant in America. Travel & Leisure chose it for its rankings of “America’s
Top 50 Restaurants” and the “twenty-five best dining experiences in the world.”
Chef Weaver, 33, comes to Dallas from New York City, where he was responsible for a culinary department that
saw more than $26 million in annual food and beverage sales. Located in an exclusive new development in the
Time Warner Center on Columbus Circle, the Mandarin Oriental New York gave him entrée to cultivate the allegiance
of Manhattan’s dining elite.
“Since the Mandarin has breathtaking views of New York’s skyline and Central Park, the hotel has a nice slice of
the Big Apple,” Chef Weaver said. “The city’s society and civic leaders hold their most prestigious parties and
galas there. Learning to please their discerning palates is invaluable to any culinary career. Liza Minnelli was
pretty close to the mark when she sang, ‘If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere!’”
A highly decorated former United States Marine, Chef Weaver earned his cooking stripes at the School Craft College
in Livonia, Michigan, in 1997. His leadership abilities and proficiency in the kitchen quickly proved a winning
combination, catching the eye of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, which put him in charge of The Grill at its property
in Dearborn, Michigan. During his tenure at Ritz, the restaurant was rated number one in the company by J.D. Powers
and Associates – and scored in the top ten in Conde Nast Traveler’s 1999 U.S. rankings.
His reputation established, Chef Weaver was recruited by the Mandarin Oriental Miami in 2001 to oversee five outlets,
including the Café Sambal. While there, the Food Network’s The Best of named Café Sambal “The Best Lunchtime Hotspot.”
It was at Mandarin Oriental that he refined his own version of French Asian cuisine that has become his signature in
New York culinary circles. At the New York property, which he helped open, Chef Weaver was part of the executive team
that garnered the industry’s top honors for 2004 – from Conde Nast Traveler’s “Hot List” and The Robb Report’s “Best
of the Best” to Food and Wine’s “Best New Wine Lists” and Travel & Leisure’s “15 Hotels to Watch – The World’s Best.”
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