Chef brings decades of culinary experience to the Hilton Anaheim
The food smoker is an ingredient all its own.
As Frederic Castan positioned a seared guinea hen breast onto a porcelain plate, he covered the dish with a lid and reached for a smoking gun.
The executive chef of Hilton Anaheim, who oversees the menus for the hotel’s Mix Restaurant and Lounge, carefully slid the cooking device’s hose under the slightly lifted lid and waited a few seconds.
The tool would infuse the chicken with a smoky applewood flavor without extra heat.
“It gives it a nice color and taste,” Castan said with a French accent. “A good essence too.”
Listen to the chef. After all, Castan has more than 30 years of culinary experience and has served in an executive chef role in kitchens at some of America’s finest restaurants, hotels and resorts, including the once-popular and now defunct Le St. Michel in Santa Monica.
He drops names as readily as diners drop napkins.
Architect Frank Gehry would order red snapper with capers every Wednesday.
Comedic actor Gene Wilder brought in a bottle of wine to celebrate the birth of Castan’s son.
Actor Dustin Hoffman would arrive to a glass of wine already waiting for him at a table.
The high-caliber chef, dressed in a pristine white coat that read “Maitres Cuisiniers de France” on the jacket sleeve, has received several awards and accolades, and his mission as the new leader of the culinary team at Hilton Anaheim is to introduce innovative cooking techniques and flavors that incorporate ingredients grown in Southern California.
“My cuisine is very simple — I go right to the point,” Castan says. “Too many ways and you lose the integrity of the product.”
It’s a motto he has practiced since he grew up on a farm in Avignon, a city in France’s Provence region.
Bombing during World War II left the town in terrible shape. With resources low, Castan’s family learned to be creative with the food they had, and they never missed a meal or social gathering. His mother would invite her church friends every Sunday for dessert.
Around age 12, Castan asked his mom if he could make the cake. That was all it took.
After culinary training in Marseille, France, Castan left for the U.S. That was 43 years ago. He has headed kitchens at the Westin South Coast Plaza, The Ritz Carlton hotels in Pasadena and Laguna Niguel, and Sofitel Chicago Water Tower.
Before arriving at the Hilton Anaheim last year, Castan had spent nearly a decade as executive chef of the five-star, five-diamond St. Regis Monarch Beach in Dana Point, where he was responsible for menus, food preparation and presentation at each restaurant in the resort.
It’s a distinction, he says, to join the 1,500-room Hilton Anaheim and present his culinary expertise at a hotel that bustles with tourists from all over the world.
That also includes feeding the hotel’s 900 employees and visitors from nearby Disneyland and the Anaheim Convention Center.
At the Mix, Castan updated the menu with Mexican and early-California-inspired dishes and added options for vegan and gluten-free diners, such as his quinoa paella.
He also has come up with complex and creative dishes for hotel groups as large as 500 guests to small dinners for the hotel’s exclusive chef’s table, which is as an intimate option that allows diners to reserve an ultra-private table in the kitchen and watch Castan prepare a progressive menu.
The newly enhanced chef’s table was designed by HGTV cable channel’s John Gidding.
“He creates a completely different culinary experience,” Dean Gorup, Hilton Anaheim Food and Beverage director, said of Castan. “When you come to the chef’s table, it’s unique to the area and to the season. He never duplicates a dish. He ties everything in with colors and textures.”
Castan said that when he is cooking, he enjoys teaching and empowering young cooks in the kitchen to become greater chefs.
Hans Van Den Broek, a junior sous chef at the Hilton Anaheim who graduated from Orange Coast College’s culinary arts program, called the chef a mentor.
“He’s improved the quality of the food and improved the morale, bringing in new ideas and encouraging us with his input,” said Van Den Broek.
Castan said he enjoys putting his creativity to work, preparing dishes that can feed over 2,500 people per meal period at the hotel.
“Cooking is something that I really enjoy. If I stay away from the kitchen, I start feeling anxious,” he said.
The Hilton Anaheim is at 777 W. Convention Way. For more information, call (714) 750-4321 or visit hilton.com.
