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Four Seasons Hotel Minneapolis

  • 245 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55401, USA
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Stephen Tober

Executive Sous Chef

 

Four Seasons Tenure

  • Since 2007
  • First Four Seasons Assignment: Four Seasons Hotel Miami

Employment History

  • Four Seasons Hotel Hampshire; Four Seasons Hotel Denver; Four Seasons Hotel Miami; Interstate Hotels & Resorts, Seattle; Disney, Florida

Education

  • Brookdale Community College, Middletown, New Jersey, USA

Birthplace

  • Long Branch, New Jersey, USA

Languages Spoken

  • English

Stephen Tober, Executive Sous Chef at Four Seasons Hotel Minneapolis, grew up in New Jersey, and moved to Florida after high school. There, he discovered a love for hospitality — though soon learned he was more at home in the back of the house. “I started out washing dishes and chopping vegetables, then working the line,” he says. “I tried a front-of-house position, but hurricanes pulled me back into the kitchen when the chef couldn’t come to work, and I realized I appreciated the feeling you get when an event goes well and people are happy with the food you’ve cooked and created.”

Stephen’s career has taken him to different corners of the country. He started in Florida at a Disney resort, then worked in Seattle for Interstate Hotels & Resorts (now Aimbridge Hospitality) before joining Four Seasons Hotel Miami. He transferred to Four Seasons Hotel Denver, where he met his wife, Jessica — Wedding and Events Manager at Four Seasons Hotel Minneapolis — and in 2017, the duo transferred to Four Seasons Hotel Hampshire in England.

Stephen and Jessica’s complementary roles came together in Hampshire to create unforgettable guest experiences — including one of Stephen’s most memorable career moments: An Intermediary Partner Summit (IPS) event on the property. “It’s a big three-day event, with lots of general managers, catering and sales heads, and top Four Seasons clients,” he says. “Jess and I quarterbacked the whole thing, planning, organizing and executing it.”

Though this is Stephen’s first hotel opening, it’s hardly the first time he’s built a concept from scratch. Early in his career, while working at a Disney resort, a hurricane leveled the property, so Stephen and his team worked out of a trailer outside as they got the hotel back up and running. He also cites the pandemic as a moment of rebuilding. “Coming back from COVID, we had to reopen from scratch with entirely new hygiene rules and other policies,” he says. “It prepared us for many elements of an opening.”

When he’s not in the kitchen, Stephen loves to spend time outdoors with Jessica and his two dogs, exploring the state’s forests and streams through fishing, camping, hiking and foraging. They’ll also be found taking in the area’s many restaurants and breweries.