Floribbean Chefs™

CHEF ROBB KVASNAK

It was on the first day of the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C. when Robb was born. His mother and father had just enjoyed lunch at a seafood restaurant on the Potomac. When his mother came around after Robb's birth, her first question was: “where is the rest of my coconut rum cake?” Yes, “coconut rum cake” were the first words he heard!

Chef Robb was raised first by his German Grandmother who slaughtered her own chickens and tended a garden with fresh fruit and vegetables, watered lovingly with rain that she collected just for the garden. So fresh healthy eating and hearty, tasty dishes in good company are the basis of his culinary philosophy. No prepared sauces or bases enter his kitchen.

At 13, Robb was sent to school in Lausanne, Switzerland, where the local language is French. He then attended the University in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. On a trip to Paris to visit Hélène and Pierre who spoke Esperanto, Robb was invited to stay in their apartment. There, next to them in their cozy kitchen overlooking the Sacre Coeur, he learned firsthand how deftly the

French create an elegant seven-course dinner at home. From then on, he has devoted himself to studying French cuisine. But he also studied Italian cuisine under the watchful eyes of Chef Pietro Coniglio from Agrigento, Sicily.

The many foods and spices of the Caribbean have fascinated him, since he came to South Florida to learn Spanish. Applying what he knows of European cooking, he has been working on the Floribbean Fusion ever since he tasted his first arroz con pollo, flan de coco, jerked fish and key limes.

This year, Chef Robb graduated from Culinary Arts classes that lasted more than 1,000 hours in the institute’s kitchens and classrooms and countless days practicing and reading at home. In these courses he studied the fine techniques of Marie Antoine Carême, Auguste Escoffier and Paul Bocuse.

He is particularly interested in combining the many ethnic plates and traditions that are intimately entwined here in Florida, the most northern part of the Caribbean. But in preparing meals for you, his guests, Robb wants to know your innermost beloved dishes and prepare them for you as if they had just left the steamy, culinary realms of a bistro in Paris or a little restaurant in Marseilles.

Or just pick from the list of his favorites! At the tables he serves, you know that you are truly are family.