LABRELOTTE BAY, Saint Lucia (May 24, 2021) — Windjammer Landing Villa Beach Resort announces the appointment of Jose Gomez as Executive Chef and Alexandru Danila as Spa and Wellness Director. In time for much-anticipated summer travel, Chef Gomez and Alexandru Danila incorporate their styles to evolve the respective top-tier dining and luxurious spa experiences offered to guests visiting the property.
“With a new worldwide focus on wellness and sustainability, we are especially excited to welcome Chef Jose and Alexandru Danila to join the Windjammer Landing team. Their experience and personal passions for their craft will surely elevate the guest experience, leaving them feeling nourished and refreshed,” said Nick Prattas, Managing Director at Windjammer Landing Villa Beach Resort.
Chef Jose Gomez, Executive Chef
Jose Gomez joins Windjammer Landing with over 30 years’ experience under his belt. He started his cooking career in San Juan, Puerto Rico and refined his skill set at The Culinary Institute of America. Having received expert training from several world-renowned chefs, including Roland Passot and Jean Georges Vongerichten, Gomez held Executive Chef positions at The Waldorf Astoria Panama and the Waldorf Astoria Reach in Key West, Florida. Most recently, he transformed the food and beverage programs at The Hyatt Ziva and The Hyatt Zilara in Jamaica.
In his new position as Executive Chef, Jose Gomez comments, “I am extremely excited to join the impressive food and beverage team at Windjammer Landing. In my new role I will be sharing knowledge with a selection of very talented chefs alongside training and mentoring younger cooks, a process I always find extremely rewarding. This year, I plan to build on the already impressive culinary offering to create consistency throughout the resort and I will use local ingredients to create stronger vegan, nutrition-focused and healthier menus. I also want to play on what we already have available to us here through offering carefully tailored private dining experiences and cooking classes for kids.”
As an islander himself, Jose Gomez describes Windjammer as, “’the perfect canvas to paint all his ideas.” For example, he plans to bring on a new expert mixologist and rebrand the resort’s fine dining option to offer an Asian fusion cuisine that will encompass Peruvian, Mexican and Japanese ingredients all with a Caribbean twist, boasting innovative and fresh sharing platters.
Chef Jose Gomez and his team will spearhead the resort’s new “Farm to Table” initiative, building and nurturing relationships with local farmers, fishermen and livestock and poultry breeders. This will ensure the resort’s produce remains local and fresh, which in turn continues to support the island’s local economy. Windjammer Landing will use agricultural robots such as seeders, irrigation systems, and food waste control applications to minimize food waste. The resort also plans to fade out buffets, implement smart packaging options and ensure that private chefs are only available to guests on a high-demand basis. This will reduce their carbon footprint, support the local community, and preserve the resort’s tranquil surroundings.
Alexandru Danila, Spa and Wellness Director
Alexandru Danila, originally from Romania, joins the resort with over 10 years of experience in the spa and wellness industry, having worked previously for various luxury hotels and resorts across Romania and Dubai. A former professional basketball player, he credits his athletic background for paving his interests in nutrition, state of mind, and understanding what recovery means.
In his new position as Spa and Wellness Director, Alexandru Danila comments, “We are currently working on an exciting new menu that will include a variety of new, innovative therapies and beauty treatments. At the same time, we are focusing on improving our current therapies to enhance the overall guest experience, which takes inspiration from the local area. I am a firm believer in the body-mind-spirit connection and will be introducing several exciting new wellness trends into our current offerings including sleep therapy programs and immune-boosting supplements such as apoptogenic mushrooms, Reishi and Lion’s Mane.”
In addition to refreshing the menu and introducing new naturally infused products, Alexandru Danila will work alongside expert therapists, some of whom have been at the resort for over 19 years. He refers to them as the “backbone of the spa” and wants to focus on post-pandemic wellbeing and offer future guests a sanctuary to reconnect, restore and reflect. He will provide tailored wellbeing and fitness classes that focus heavily on breathwork, nutrition and postural alignment classes, the composite of the positions of all joints and limbs of the body.
