Executive Pastry Chef Carlos Salazar

 

Carlos Salazar Executive Pastry Chef Caesars Palace, Las Vegas

Carlos Salazar was born in Colombia, South America. His mother was a wedding cake decorator and his father was a restaurant and bakery entrepreneur. At the age of 14, he began working in his family owned bakery as a baker apprentice and three years later Carlos became the head baker of the shop. When Carlos turned 18, he moved to the United States and started working in Miami, Florida at the French bakery, Petite Cherie. In 1982, he was offered the position of Assistant Pastry Chef at the Four Ambassador Hotel. Six months later, Carlos took over the position of Pastry Chef. Two years later, Carlos became the assistant pastry chef at the prestigious Grand Bay Hotel in Coconut Grove, Florida. During his tenure at this 5 Mobile star hotel, Carlos had the opportunity to work with great European Pastry Chefs.            

 In 1987, the Doral Resort and Country Club in Miami offered Carlos the position of Executive Pastry Chef. A year later, the Grand Bay Hotel asked Carlos to return as their Executive Pastry Chef. In 1992, Carlos was offered the position of Executive Pastry Chef at the Breakers Resort in Palm Beach. He was in charge of 20 people, 5 restaurants and banquet capacity of 1500.            

 After working on the East Coast for 16 years, Carlos decided to experience the west and ended up at the landmark San Francisco Fairmount Hotel. At this 520 rooms hotel, Carlos served as the Executive Pastry Chef for over 3 years.            

In 1997, Carlos accepted a position in Las Vegas as Pastry Chef at the Rio Suite Hotel and Casino. This experience introduced Carlos to a new dimension in his career, 2500 rooms and 14 restaurants.            

A year later, Carlos teamed with Jean-Philippe Maury M.O.F. (Best Pastry Chef in France, 2007) to open the fabulous Bellagio resort in Las Vegas. In 2001, Carlos was promoted to be the Executive Pastry Chef at the MGM Grand Hotel- Casino in Las Vegas; a sister property to the Bellagio with 5.000 rooms, 18 restaurants and banquet facilities for 7.000 people. The MGM Grand is still the largest hotel in the world. In March of 2011, Chef Carlos was asked to joint the legendary Caesars Palace Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas as the Executive Pastry Chef.        

Carlos has been an invited guest chef to renowned events like, James Beard Foundation in New York, Disney Food & Wine festival in Orlando, S.O.S in Las Vegas, Passion for Pastry in Amsterdam and others. Chef Salazar has done several local and national TV appearances such as the Food Network and Univision. In September of 2007, Carlos was feature in the front cover of the national magazine “Latino Leaders” as one he most prominent chef in Las Vegas. In April of 2008, Chef Salazar had a four pages interview in Catering magazine; this is one of the most prominent culinary magazines in South America.              

In June 2000, Carlos won the award of New Star Search Chef, during a National Competition held in Beaver Creek, Colorado. His winning creation was featured in National Cooking magazines such as Food Arts, Chocolatier and Pastry Art and Design. In September 2000 Carlos was a finalist at the Atlanta Southern Pastry Classic. In February 2002 Carlos was a finalist for the Patisfrance National Dessert Competition in New York. In July 2003, Carlos was a Team Captain for the National Pastry Team Championship in Las Vegas. In July 2005, Chef Carlos was the team captain for the team that won the silver medal and best presentation award at National Pastry team Championship in Phoenix. In October, 2005 Chef Salazar was selected to be the captain of the USA National Pastry Team that will compete against 20 other countries in the Coupe du Monde de la Patisserie in Lyon, France, January 2007. This is the most prestigious pastry competition world wide held every 2 years. Team USA won best sugar work and best chocolate work.  In September 2008, Carlos participated in the National Bread and Pastry Championship where he obtained the Silver medal and first prize for best chocolate-sugar showpiece and best desserts. In July 2009, Carlos was the team captain at the National Pastry Team Championship in Phoenix. Team Salazar was awarded best sugar showpiece and best buffet presentation.    

 Personal Interest: I am a person that enjoys every minute of my life. I have been blessed with a beautiful family, a great wife and 4 wonderful children. I come from a family of 11 children which most of them are in the food business, since we all grew up inside our family owned bakery shop. That’s probably where I developed my passion for pastries. I can’t see myself doing anything else more exciting than creating sweet pieces of work. After work, I devote all my time to my family. Whether we are at church, movies or park, we have the best time together.            

The event benefits one of the most amazing organizations in the world. will receive the net proceeds for this amazing chocolate and pastry show.