Executive Pastry Chef
The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Las Vegas
World champion pastry artist Chris Hanmer is Executive Pastry Chef for The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Las Vegas, where his creations are experienced at the resort’s Medici Café and Terrace restaurant. Chef Hanmer has nearly 15 years of experience in the culinary industry.
Chef Hanmer competed in the World Pastry Team Championship in 2004, which was televised on the Food Network. At the age of 26, he became the youngest American to win this championship.
He focuses on creating innovative desserts through the addition of new twists and creative artistry to classic sweet favorites. Examples include offering fresh, warm churros rolled in cinnamon sugar; frozen vanilla parfait with roasted honey peaches and almond tuile; and "Coffee a Go-Go" created with coffee gelee, orange cremeux and candied pistachio for the resort’s popular afternoon tea.
His creations are also available via in-room and include classic desserts such as warm cookies and milk; fresh baked mini-chocolate-chip cookies wrapped in wax paper accompanied by an old-fashioned bottle of milk nestled in ice; and his pineapple upside-down cake.
Prior to joining The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Las Vegas in 2005, he served as Assistant Pastry Chef for Bellagio in Las Vegas. He has also worked at the International School of Confectionary Arts in Gaithersburg, Md., where he participated in national and global demonstrations with famed confectioner Ewald Notter.
Hanmer’s educational background includes a certificate in culinary arts from Orange Coast College, in Costa Mesa, Calif. and advanced culinary studies in France at L’ Ecole Du Grand Chocolat.
