COMPETITOR

Coast Restaurant

HEAD COOK: John Hamme

COMPETITION: World Chef Championship

John Hamme Bio John Hamme Executive Chef at Spectrum Resorts, is moving the resort in a direction that provides owners and guests from all over with a world class dining experience unlike any other provided in the area. The resort offers guests a vast spectrum of dining experiences ranging from a casual house smoked barbeque experience provided on the The Village Lawn, a casual sit-down dinner with the family at Hideaway restaurant or the fine dining experience that overlooks the Gulf provided at the Coast restaurant. The importance of place is something that Chef Hamme believes in passionately. It is with this passion that he strives to bring guests to the place he calls home through the dishes he prepares for them. Chef John has spent his years in the area searching for the right local farmers, fisherman, and artisanal cheese makers to help prepare the freshest dishes possible that not only represent the tastes and culture of the Gulf Coast region, but also supports these unsung heroes of the local food industry. Becoming a well-rounded and decorated culinary professional is something that Chef Hamme has spent his entire working career achieving and bettering. Chef Hamme began his journey by obtaining a degree in Hotel Restaurant and Club Management which lead him to an apprenticeship under CMC Rudy Speckamp, who then lead a young Chef Hamme onto the path of securing a position in, and excelling through, the famed apprenticeship at the world renowned Greenbrier Resort. At the completion of his time with The Greenbrier Chef Hamme utilized his talents to compete for and obtain a competitively sought after spot on the ACF Culinary Team in 2000. It was on this team that Chef Hamme cooked his way around the world chasing the challenge of defining American food. Chef Hamme and seven of his team members represented the United States in a three-year journey of international competitions that took them to Luxembourg, Switzerland, and back to the United States all culminating to the final challenge at The International Kochkunst – Ausstellung in Erfurt Germany. It was here that Chef Hamme and his teammates brought home a gold medal for the United States. It was due to his success at such a young age and desire to surround himself with the best of the best that Chef Hamme moved to pursue a position with The Ritz Carlton Hotel Company. The offer was to participate in the first domestic opening for the company in over twelve years. Chef Hamme spent his time here in addition to managing the hotel’s banquet operations as part of their corporate opening team, assisting with the successful opening of many world class hotels and resorts across the South Eastern United States. After growing through his experiences with The Ritz Carlton Chef Hamme was offered another a career move, that transition allowed him to join forces with Horst Schulze and assist him with the launching of the Capella Hotel Company. While with Capella Hotels Chef Hamme had the privilege to work closely with Horst and his hand-picked corporate team on the introduction of yet another international brand of boutique hotels to the world. It was through this company, Chef John was able to gain more exposure with the cuisines of the world by participating in openings in the United States, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland and Mexico sharing experiences and trading techniques with the perspective chefs in those locations along the way. It was through all of these professional experiences and competition experience with Team USA that Chef reflects on as his “graduate school”. It was during this time that Chef Hamme built his culinary foundation and fed his passion for the ever changing culinary segment of the hospitality industry. It was through traveling the world, learning and cooking with chefs from various countries that Chef solidified his passion for an ever changing culinary experiences for his guests. These twenty-five years of competition, corporate, and worldly experience are what Chef Hamme is brings to Spectrum Resorts. Chef has taken on the role to oversee the daily and long term operations at Spectrum Resorts who manage the Beach Club and Turquoise Place. It is here that Chef showcases his talents and features the local farmers and artisans of the area to bring Gulf Shores a dining experience that is “locally worldly”. He guides his team of young and aspiring culinary professionals to achieve this goal as well as to carry the age old culinary tradition of passing the torch. Chef John has reached the time in his life where his goals are to provide guests with a story through their palate and to inspire the next generation. To breath the life of passion into the next generation of Chefs and industry professionals; teaching them the importance of the values he was taught along the way so when these individuals head off on their journeys, they will look back at their time at Spectrum resorts as the beginning. The time they were apart of a revolution within Gulf Coast culture and where they began to pour their own foundations.