JW Marriott Dubai appoints Damien Chorley as the new Executive Chef

An Australian by birth, Chef Damien brings with him more than 15 years of professional experience in the culinary field having worked in many prominent 5-star hotels across Australia, Canada, United Kingdom and Middle East.

Prior to his present position, Chef Damien was the Executive Sous Chef of JW Marriott Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, London.

Chef Damien began his career in the hospitality industry way back in 1993. His height of his culinary career started off as Chef de Partie at Le Meridien Hotel, Melbourne Australia. From here, he moved on to establish himself in several prestigious hotels such as the Hyatt Regency Vancouver Canada and the Crown Towers and Casino Melbourne, Australia.

Chef Damien began his first Marriott journey in 1991 in the Marriott Grosvenor Square Hotel, London as a Larder Chef Cuisine de Partie. Looking for greener pastures, he took up the position of Banquet Sous Chef in Renaissance Hotel Chancery Court London in 2001 and was later promoted to Senior Sous Chef in 2003.

In 2005, Chef Damien decided to explore to the Middle East and took a challenging offer at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Dubai as a Banquet Chef. He was responsible for a team of 12 chefs. During his tenure at the Ritz Carlton, Damien was very successful in overseeing the outside catering business. His hard work and dedication paid off when he was promoted as the Chef de Cuisine for La Baie Restaurant.

In May 2006, Chef Damien went back to London as the Executive Sous Chef of the Four Seasons Hotel Park Lane, London. In a year's time, his heart yearned to return to the Marriott o as the Executive Sous Chef of JW Marriott Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane. London.

The hotel has the largest banqueting facility in Europe with capacity of 2000 people in the Ballroom. He played a vital role in overseeing the entire kitchen operations together with the hotel's Executive Chef.

During his tenure, JW Marriott Grosvernor House Hotel was voted among the top 10 Afternoon Tea venues in London by the Tea Council.

His wide experience and professional expertise has led him to win several distinguished awards. When he was an apprentice he was awarded a Bronze medal for junior chef of the year for his home state of Victoria in 1989.

He also won first place at the Melbourne Regional Final of the Work Skills Australia cooking competition in 1991. Chef Damien was lucky to be a part of the culinary team that cooked at the prestigious James Beard House in New York for a combined dinner with Marriott, Ritz Carlton and Renaissance Hotels.

His Chef, Michael Riordan at the London Renaissance Chancery Court asked him to assist in catering for 100 selected guests in the house of Chef James Beard, which was a great honor for Damien.

Damien represented his College (Casey Catering College, Melbourne Australia) in the annual Trans Tasman cooking competition between 5 Australian Colleges and 3 New Zealand Colleges in 1991 held in New Zealand. The competitions included Magic Box, Live static and show plate competitions. The team of 5, which he proudly captained won 9 medals, including 5 Gold, 2 Silver and 2 Bronze with an overall placing of second in the entire competition.

In his present capacity as Executive Chef at the JW Marriott Dubai, Chef Damien is in charge of the entire kitchen operations. Since his arrival, he has added new creations and unique presentations on the buffets and a la carte. He strongly believes in quality training, hygiene standards and creative planning. With Chef Damien's presence, food lovers and, connoisseurs can look forward to a new and exciting taste at the JW Marriott Dubai.