Jaime Puffer believes that she has the best job in the world: helping engaged couples make a dream wedding come true at Montage Laguna Beach.
Puffer, the resort's wedding specialist, oversees all wedding-related details. She and her dedicated staff have turned dreams into reality for nearly 250 couples since the Montage flagship opened in 2003. The team serves as the first and ongoing point of contact for couples and their families to answer all questions, offer suggestions and ultimately plan most aspects of the wedding, in collaboration with the couple's wedding coordinator, to reflect the couple's unique personal style.
More on Jaime
04:29PM
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June 12th, 2008
Chef Extraordinaire
Executive Chef Matthew LeonardHere are Montage we are blessed to have such talented people! One of those individuals is Matthew Leonard, Executive Banquet Chef.
Executive Chef Matt Leonard joined Montage Laguna Beach in 2003 to oversee culinary operations with an emphasis on special events such as luxury weddings, in-room dining, corporate and social events.
With culinary and hospitality credentials dating back to six years at Southern Illinois University and then continuing his education at Kendall College's School of Culinary Arts, Leonard, a Chicago native, has been working in the hotel and restaurant industry for the past 17 years.
Starting as a dishwasher at a downtown Chicago restaurant, Leonard was quickly acquainted with various positions available both in front of the house and behind the house. His extensive career path has led him thus far from sous chef at The Ritz-Carlton Chicago to sous chef at El San Juan Hotel and Casino, Puerto Rico to a supervisory position at Coyote Cafe, Santa Fe. He then moved up to chef de cuisine at The Royal Palms Hotel and Casitas and at Wright's at The Arizona Biltmore. Most recently, Leonard was the banquet chef at The Phoenician in Scottsdale where he supervised a team of twenty.
Keeping a great deal of focus on customizing each guest's experience, Leonard takes every opportunity to meet with future bride and grooms, event planners, and key contacts to learn what they are looking for and find ways to exceed their expectations. "I really enjoy collaborating with our guests on creating the perfect menu for their perfect day," says Leonard. His other duties as executive chef include managing the day-to-day operations of the main kitchens and ensuring that the best quality products are used, "I like to create custom menus that reflect the freshest and highest quality ingredients of the season."
Leonard is an avid sailor with his most recent accomplishment being the race from Newport Beach, California to Ensenada, Baja California in April of 2007. He currently resides in Dana Point, California.
12:58PM
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June 4th, 2008
Wedding Cakes
Wedding Highlight of the Week
Wedding Highlight of the Week: The Montage is privildged to have Executive Pastry Chef Richard Ruskell apart of our team.
Richard Ruskell, who was named one of the "Top Ten Pastry Chefs in America" by Chocolatier magazine, oversees bakery operations for the three dining venues at Montage Laguna Beach, including the signature restaurant Studio. Ruskell works closely with the entire food and beverage team to develop the resort's inventive line-up of pastries, confections, breads, wedding cakes and in room amenities.
"Originally trained as an actor," Ruskell says, "I turned to the culinary arts when I grew weary of being a starving artist'. I wanted to cultivate my artistic bent, and pastry-making fulfilled that need." These days his specialty is not "Macbeth," but "The Montage," a sinful chocolate and caramel dome filled with luscious liquid caramel.
Previously a baking instructor and chef at the New England Culinary Institute, Ruskell was also the owner/operator of Pastry Maxine, a pastry shop in Scottsdale, AZ. During his tenure in Phoenix, he spent 8 years at The Phoenician as its chef patissier, accruing numerous awards and accolades.
His career as a patissier officially began at the Hotel Gray d'Albion in Cannes, France where he worked in the pastry kitchen of Le Royal Gray Restaurant. Other pastry positions have taken him to New York City, Maine and Vermont.
He has been featured on The Food Network many times, including most recently for the "Cirque De Soleil" cake challenge where he came in first place in March 2008, "Sugar Rush", The Food Network "Challenge" and in Pastry Art & Design, Chocolatier, Bon Appetit, Food Arts, Gourmet, Travel & Leisure, Orange Coast, Phoenix and Phoenix Home & Garden magazines. His recipes have been included in The Orange County Register (2007), onbaking: a textbook of baking and pastry fundamentals (2005) and The Good Cookie (2003).
Here are a few creations from Chef Ruskell and his team:
The classic French Crocumbouche Cake
Here are some of Chef's custom cake flavors:
Turtle-Misu - Coffee scented cake with caramel cream and salty pecans
Summer Berry Cake - Scattered berries with passionfruit legere cream
Coconut Lemonade - Coconut cake, lemon curd and a thin wash of orange marmalade
All Chocolate - Black-out cake with white chocolate chip mousse
Foret Noir - Brandied cherry-studded chocolate cake with vanilla and kirsch mousse
Lemon Brulee - Lemon poppy seed cake with cream brulee?and a thin layer of soft caramel
Banana Deutsch - Layers of rich banana cake with German chocolate filling, coconut and pecans
Pumpkin Patch - Moist pumpkin cake with spiced mascarpone cream