There is a new ex­ec­u­tive chef at the Hilton Trinidad and Con­fer­ence Cen­tre. Is­rael Calderon, an ac­com­plished culi­nary ex­pert with 21 years of ex­pe­ri­ence gained through­out North Amer­i­ca and the Caribbean, took up du­ties at the lo­cal ho­tel this week.

Calderon, most re­cent­ly, served as a con­sul­tant pro­vid­ing culi­nary ex­per­tise to pop­u­lar din­ing es­tab­lish­ments in Puer­to Ri­co. He start­ed his ca­reer as an ex­ec­u­tive sous chef at the renowned Caribe Hilton in San Juan, Puer­to Ri­co, and af­ter eight years joined Hilton Chica­go. He then moved on to fur­ther ex­pand his ex­pe­ri­ence and act­ed as ex­ec­u­tive chef at sev­er­al well-known brand­ed ho­tels in San Juan, as well as Aca­pul­co and Can­cun, Mex­i­co.

"We are thrilled to wel­come Is­rael to our ho­tel and the is­land. His back­ground is im­pres­sive and we look for­ward to the cre­ativ­i­ty and flavour he will bring to our ho­tel's din­ing out­lets," com­ment­ed Ali Khan, gen­er­al man­ag­er, Hilton Trinidad and Con­fer­ence Cen­tre. "Hilton Trinidad has been one of the lead­ing culi­nary train­ing grounds in this coun­try for near­ly 50 years and with Is­rael's es­tab­lished rep­u­ta­tion, will pro­vide fur­ther en­hance­ment."

Calderon has an ex­ec­u­tive chef cer­ti­fi­ca­tion from the Amer­i­can Culi­nary Fed­er­a­tion. Among some of his many com­pet­i­tive achieve­ments, he won gold medals at the Puer­to Ri­co Tourism and Ho­tel As­so­ci­a­tion (PRTHA) Chef's Chal­lenge Culi­nary Com­pe­ti­tion 2009 and Best Culi­nary Team at the na­tion­al Amer­i­can Culi­nary Fed­er­a­tion The Puer­to Ri­co Restau­rant Show in 2006.