Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North

Four Seasons Tenure

• Since 2021
• First Four Seasons Assignment: Current

Employment History

• The Quin House, Boston; The Joule Hotel, Dallas; Edwards Dessert Kitchen, Minneapolis; Marin Restaurant and Bar, Minneapolis; El Tucan, Miami; Rainbow Room, New York; Spice Market, New York; Bottega Ristorante, Yountville, California; Coqueta, San Francisco; Market by Jean-Georges, W Boston; Chambers Kitchen – A Jean-Georges Restaurant, Chambers Hotel, Minneapolis; Cosmos, Graves 601 Hotel, Minneapolis; Vincent – A Restaurant, Minneapolis; A La Mode!, Bloomington, Minnesota

Education

• Associates in Applied Science and Certificate of Advanced Baking and Pastry, The Art Institutes International Minnesota, Minneapolis; Training in Plated Desserts, Valrhona Ecole du Grand Chocolat, Rhone Valley, France

Birthplace

• Corpus Christi, Texas, USA

Languages Spoken

• English

“I like to create a fun and collaborative environment – after all, we work in such a creative setting and around so many delicious ingredients,” says Christina Kaelberer about the personality of the operation she oversees as Executive Pastry Chef.

A veteran of notable restaurants from Miami to Minneapolis and San Francisco to Boston, Kaelberer’s creations are served morning through evening around the Fort Lauderdale Hotel. A special menu of cuisine-inspired desserts is offered at its eastern Mediterranean restaurant, Evelyn’s Fort Lauderdale. Her lightly crisp and sweet, rose syrup brushed Cardamom Donuts served with silky vanilla diplomat is a guest favourite. She also prepares specialty pastries, cookies, confections, and verrines for all-day lobby lounge Honey Fitz; offers fun and nostalgic poolside sweets such as Freezie Pops to Ice Cream Sandwiches; and, ends a guests’ in-room dining meal with a delicious Key Lime Cheesecake with soft meringue and Chocolate Cake with sweet cream Chantilly as featured desserts.

At Evelyn’s, Kaelberer aims to keep her desserts light yet creatively bold. “The Evelyn’s menu is designed to take guests on a journey through multiple courses, so the desserts are meant to complement the end of a perfectly-filling meal.” Combined flavours and textures intrigue the palate one after the next: chewy, toasty, tangy, sweet, creamy. “I always want to keep people guessing and excited for the next bite.”

She works in tandem with her team in the pastry kitchen and is continually impressed with their passion. Developing talent is a big part of Kaelberer’s job: Her style is of a “patient teacher” interested in mentoring her team by educating and collaborating. Many are transfers from other Four Seasons properties who are “looking to further their craft and continue learning from different visions.” Proudly, she notes “Four Seasons fosters the growth of its craftspeople, and each opportunity to train alongside a new chef, is valuable all around as they will take all they learned in Fort Lauderdale, to other Four Seasons as they continue their journey with the company.”

Key to Kaelberer’s creativity is ingredients, and the Sunshine State loves to impress her with “fun to work with” produce such as microgreens, edible flowers, and citrus. “We work closely with nearby farms whenever possible to source the freshest, locally grown, seasonal ingredients year-round.”

Born in Texas and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Kaelberer was a middle child who found her niche in the kitchen at age 10 when helping to prepare dinner for the family. Her interest in cooking and baking was inspired by her grandmother who started teaching her the way around ingredients and how to handle food, eventually guiding her through different recipes. “I began learning with kid-friendly dishes that allowed me to build my comfort level with prepping each part of the dish, to its plating. After that, I kept on cooking.”

As her passion for being in the kitchen grew in her earlier years, she dreamed of studying culinary arts.  She studied at The Art Institutes International Minnesota and upon graduating, immediately found herself immersed in the pastry operations of a local hotel for several years before joining and elevating to Executive Pastry Chef at Chambers Kitchen, a concept by multi-Michelin-starred chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten.

Her relationship with the famous chef continued, next at Market by Jean-Georges in Boston and then Spice Market New York, which led her the original and famous Rainbow Room in Manhattan where she was part of the reopening team. Other endeavours in between, brought Kaelberer to Spanish and Italian restaurant concepts in San Francisco and in Napa Valley, respectively, where she discovered a deep appreciation for Italian dessert-making and California-prime seasonal ingredients.

Along the way, Kaelberer competed on Iron Chef America and in two StarChefs pastry events and was part of an elite culinary group that tested recipes for Calabrian Author Rosetta Constantino for her cookbook on Southern Italian Desserts. She then returned home to Minneapolis where she opened a dessert-only restaurant called Edwards Dessert Kitchen. Her inspiring work and accomplishments won her the Outstanding Pastry Chef Charlie Award for her artistry in creating masterpieces of desserts and morning pastries.

“Sharing my passion for the art of dessert-making with the people in my hometown and then being recognized at home for doing what I love was a very special moment in my life and career.

Her next big move was to Florida and dream city of Fort Lauderdale, where she seized the opportunity to start the latest chapter in her career with the Four Seasons brand – of which she had followed throughout her rise – as part of the opening team at Four Seasons Fort Lauderdale.

And when she isn’t making unforgettable desserts, always a beachgoer, she is certain that living in South Florida and “being at the beach is one of my favourite leisure activities and I love having the ocean so close my door.”