Our Chef
Dining is one of the highlights at the Seaside Palm Beach and for many of our guests, the culinary experience is the reason they keep coming back, year after year. Get to know our Executive Chef Steffen Schenk and his team responsible for playing such an essential role in the success of our hotel.
Executive Chef Steffen Schenk, Seaside Palm Beach
Steffen Schenk learnt his trade from the bottom up. His training at the Ringhotel Hohenlohe Hotel was followed by joining the Goldener Anker as second chef under Peter Scharff, famous chef, pâtissier and herb specialist.
Steffen gained his first international experience at the Switzerland’s Golfhotel Waldhuus, the Arve Central Arosa and the Walliser Hof Hotel, all under the direction of chef Jörg Walter, who is particularly known for his modern Alpine cuisine. Other career milestones include stints at the Michelin-starred Bel Etage at the Kunsthotel Teufelhof in Basel and the gourmet restaurant Wartenberger Mühle in Kaiserslautern.
In 2003, Steffen Schenk joined the Seaside hotel chain in Gran Canaria, holding various positions including a four-year role at the Seaside Grand Hotel Residencia. Until the beginning of 2023, Steffen Schenk was executive chef of the two à-la-carte restaurants Esencia and La Bodega at the Seaside Palm Beach. Recently, he was appointed executive chef for all kitchens at our hotel.
Steffen Schenk leads a team that works with diverse ingredients and various recipes. La Bodega is a tapas restaurant distinguished by a simple and regional cuisine made with high-quality products. Apart from classic Spanish tapas, the Canary Islands influence dishes such as the banana and lobster gazpacho, the trilogy of potatoes with spicy sauces or the gofio tiramisu. In the à la carte restaurant Esencia, the menus are inspired by a creative and cosmopolitan Franco-Mediterranean cuisine and in the main restaurant there are barbecue evenings with different country themes.
Schenk’s signature dish is the lobster cocktail, an example of a perfect yet surprising balance of individual ingredients such as fennel, green apple, asparagus, blood orange mayonnaise, dill and anise. Schenk draws inspiration from the weekly market and loves to bring diners new vegetables and fruits to discover.
