Culinary Team
Richard Ruskell
Executive Pastry Chef
Richard Ruskell, named one of the "Top Ten Pastry Chefs in America" by Chocolatier magazine, joined Montage Beverly Hills as Executive Pastry Chef after five years overseeing 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 Montage Beverly Hills' inventive lineup of pastries, confections, breads 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 eight years at The Phoenician as its chef patissier, accruing numerous awards and accolades.
Ruskell's 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.
Ruskell has been featured on The Food Network many times, including the "Disney Celebration" and "Cirque du Soleil" cake challenges, where he came in first place in October and March 2008 respectively. Ruskell has appeared in Pastry Art & Design, Chocolatier, Bon Appétit, Food Arts, Gourmet, Travel + Leisure, Orange Coast, Phoenix and Phoenix Home & Garden magazines. His recipes have been included in The Orange County Register (2007), On Baking: A Textbook of Baking and Pastry Fundamentals (2005) and The Good Cookie (2003).
Ruskell's team won first prize for his colorful "beehive" sugar showpiece at the 2005 National Pastry Competition. His award-winning lineup also includes: a crunch cake featured in Grand Finales: The Art of The Plated Dessert, and two other creations in Grand Finales: A Modernist View. In addition, he has earned silver and gold medals in the Patisfrance U.S. Pastry Competition. He has been a guest artist chef at Manele Bay Hotel in Lana'i and at The Epcot International Food and Wine Festival, as well as a guest instructor at The Stratford Chefs School in Ontario. Ruskell was also the first guest pastry chef to be a guest artist aboard the Silverseas Cruise line in the fall of 2006.
Ruskell holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from Western Illinois University in Macomb, Illinois, and is a graduate of The French Culinary Institute, New York City.
Matt MacDonald
Sous Chef
For almost as long as he's been able to hold utensils, Matt MacDonald has been cooking. And it shows in his dedication to his art and his natural affinity for Montage's commitment to culinary excellence. MacDonald joined the Montage Beverly Hills opening culinary team as Sous Chef after serving seven years at Montage Laguna Beach's highly lauded The Loft restaurant. He earned his degree at the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Pasadena, refining his penchant for classic cuisine with a Southern California flair.
MacDonald started his professional culinary career at an Italian restaurant near his home. MacDonald then took at job at Disney's Club 33, one of Orange County's finest five-star restaurants, which led to the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort & Spa. After several years in the hospitality industry, MacDonald happily accepted a cook position at Montage Laguna Beach.
When he's not perfecting his passion in the kitchen, MacDonald can be found taking photographs, skateboarding and traveling.
