Philippe Piel

PUNTA MITA, MEXICO

Philippe Piel was born in Fougères, France and discovered the joy of cooking at a young age, joining his grandmother in the kitchen during his summer vacations and at the traditional Sunday family reunion.

At sixteen, Chef Philippe decided to transform his passion into a career through an apprenticeship at one of the best restaurants in his hometown, “Les Voyageurs,” receiving his Certificate of Professional Aptitude (CAP) in classical cuisine in 1987.

Dedicated to see the world, he went to South England to learn English and game cooking, specialty of the “Old Manor House Restaurant” in Romsey, before crossing the Atlantic in 1991 to work at “Cambridge Beaches” in Bermuda, the first luxury cottage colony club of the Island.

“When tea is no longer just a beverage but becomes an ingredient to cook with, then the combinations with TEALEAVES blends are endless. It is always great to experiment and find the right flavour and balance to a dish for the pleasure of your guest.”

Shortly after, Chef Piel took on another challenge and joined Accor Asia Pacific as Executive Chef of the Hotel Sofitel Cambodiana in Phnom Penh, Cambodia where he was asked to cook for his majesty Norodom Sihanouk, King of Cambodia. During this period, he trained at the Malaysian Airline catering kitchen in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to open and run the “Royal Air Cambodge” airline catering division.

In the following years, Chef Peil held the position of Executive Chef at the Novotel Benoa Bali hotel in Indonesia and at the Hotel Sofitel Santa Clara in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia.

Upon his return to Europe, Philippe Piel trained at the restaurant Le Buerehiesel, a Relais & Chateaux restaurant in Strasbourg, under Mr. Antoine Westermann, a three-Michelin-star chef. In October of 2001 he relocated to Washington, D.C. to accept his role as the Executive Chef for the pre-opening of the Sofitel Lafayette Square in the nation’s capital and to open “Café 15” together with Chef Westermann and his Sous Chef as consultant.

After seven years in Washington D.C, Piel decided to join the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts Group and start a new challenge at the Four Seasons Punta Mita Resort in Mexico.