Turnberry Isle Names New Chef & Rolls Out Specialized Diet Menus

The new chef tends garden.

​Daniel Buss, who has served as executive sous chef and resort chef at Fairmont Turnberry Isles Resort since 2008, has been promoted to the executive chef position. The Canadian-born Buss has 20 years of culinary experience under his belt. He specializes in French-style cuisine, having previously opened the 5-Diamond Fairmont Banff Springs.

"Coming down here was totally different," he admits. "Totally different ingredients." Does Miami hold any advantages? "I love the seafood in Florida, and meeting with the local farmers; we use local produce whenever we can. And it's great to be able to grow the vegetables in the resort garden right here and be able to cook with it."

I'm not certain what his gardening background is, but Buss mentioned the "huge, expanded resort garden" more than once. "We grow tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant...plus all kinds of herbs."

They are also making preserves from the garden produce and incorporating them into the menu at Cascata Grille. Some folks don't realize that this Turnberry eatery is open to them, and as such won't know that Cascata is "Italian-American cuisine, comfort food that's approachable to everyone." Buss' braised short ribs with pappardelle exemplifies the style of cooking.

The garden-fresh ingredients should enhance the Lifestyle Cuisine Plus menu just unveiled a few days ago. The kitchen staffs have been trained and educated in the ways of cooking all manner of special dietary and allergic-specific meals -- including foods for DASH/Heart Healthy, diabetes (type 2), vegan, macrobiotic, and raw diets.  Wellness teas, shakes, and elixirs are also proffered. "How many times have you heard people say how difficult it is to get gluten-free products?" asks Daniel. "We're going to cater to these special needs guests."

So, in summary, there's a whole garden of new things growing at Turnberry. If you like finely prepared Italian-American comfort cuisine, or really healthy food, go dig it.

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