Stars Rooftop and Grill Room

A graduate of Tallahassee, Florida’s Keiser University Center for Culinary Arts, Ross Evans joins Stars as a highly educated, experienced pastry chef. After competing in Florida, Chef Evans spent time at Alinea Restaurant in Chicago and North Carolina favorites The Inn on Biltmore Estate and The Blackbird. Chef Evans’ palate reflects the diverse range of culinary communities he has worked in.

Chef Evans manages his team with the goal of serving nothing short of perfect desserts. He designs plates to be both artistic and delectable, qualities that have garnered him accolades and numerous awards. His love of fine arts and attention to detail define Chef Evans’ presentation style.

“I have always loved art; paintings, sculptures, drawings… I found out I could build art through chocolate showpieces and desserts and fell in love with this profession.”

When he’s not in the kitchen, he enjoys spending time outside, polishing his nature photography skills and working on his sport bike.

Robin Chocolates

Robin Chocolates came about almost by accident. While in the US Navy, Robin used pretzel dipping in chocolate to keep her son busy while she could cook a holiday meal for other single moms and dads in the military. This became a tradition and the types of confections grew. Years later, a financially rewarding career in the IT world, left a void, a void for passion. Robin landed at a local culinary school where she studied classic French cooking techniques using locally produced, seasonally available ingredients. Her last month of culinary coursework was spent in Avignon, France where she had the honor of studying with master chefs from Michelin starred restaurants and working at a local pâtisserie. Robin’s experience at the pâtisserie inspired her to become a pastry chef. Over the next several years Robin worked to develop her craft in the pastry kitchens of a number of landmark restaurants. Among these are Flagstaff House and Dushanbe Tea House in Boulder as well as The Brown Palace Hotel in Denver. During this time she also interned at Tru in Chicago.

In her spare time, Robin began to make molded chocolates for friends and family, experimenting with flavors and artistry. Just before Valentine’s Day in 2008, a local florist needed chocolates and asked Robin to provide them. She jumped at the opportunity to transform from chocolate enthusiast to chocolate entrepreneur. And thus, Robin Chocolates was born.

Art Institute of Washington

Chef Carlo Figarella graduated from the Culinary Institute of America and honed his cake decorating techniques while working at the Hotel du Pont in Wilmington, Delaware. He then moved on to become the Assistant Pastry Chef at the Ritz Carlton in Tysons Corner, Virginia for three years. In 2008, Chef Figarella began to pursue a career in education working at the Art Institute of Washington. At the Art Institute of Washington he has discovered a passion for guiding the future chefs of tomorrow through the wonderful world of Baking and Pastry.

Owner

Cocoa Latte
PastryChefConsultants.com

Trained at Johnson and Wales in pastry arts, Chef David Ramirez has appeared on the Food Network, worked at five-star properties in Atlanta and Orlando, and was most recently named captain of the 2009 Team USA. As captain of Team USA, Chef Ramirez led some of the finest pastry chefs in the internationally acclaimed Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie, aka the World Pastry Cup, competition in Lyon, France. Chef Ramirez has competed against pastry chefs from all over the world and won dozens of awards from American Culinary Foundation competitions. In 2011, Chef David was inducted into the Orlando Magazine Culinary Hall of Fame.
This self-described “chocoholic” says that no matter where he is — whether strolling the toy aisles of Target with his three kids, attending a black tie event, or visiting Orlando’s amazing theme parks, he views the world through “chocolate-colored glasses”— always wondering how every object he sees could be translated into an edible sculpture. Sweet, but never saccharine, Ramirez’s elaborate chocolate creations reflect his youthful outlook. In fact, he has been known to actually cut apart his kids’ toys in order to make a chocolate mold. The loving dad is always quick to replace what he borrows.

Cocoa Latte
In 2011, Executive Pastry Chef, David Ramirez opened his own chocolate shop called, “Cocoa Latte” in Orlando, FL. From there, he has created his line of garnishes, “DR Décor”, for plated desserts, shot glasses, turn down amenities and cakes. DR Decor is sold online and through vendors to the hotel and restaurant industry. David has pioneered a technique for making his own transfer sheets which come in a large variety of bright colors that really pop on the chocolate.

In addition to his line of décor, David created “DR Chocolates”, his signature line of molded chocolate candies. DR Chocolates are filled with flavors like Key Lime, Dulce de Leche, Cookies and Cream, Banana Rum, Strawberry Cheesecake and many, many more. DR Chocolates is available online at PastryChefConsultants.com.