Since opening Amada in Philadelphia less than a decade ago, Chef Jose Garces has emerged as an enormous talent and one of the nation’s most gifted chefs and restaurateurs. Today, he is the owner and operator of more than a dozen wildly successful restaurants, plus a thriving catering division, in five cities. He is a 2009 winner of the James Beard Foundation’s prestigious “Best Chef, Mid-Atlantic” award and one of only a few chefs in the country to hold the coveted title of Iron Chef, appearing regularly on Food Network’s hit series Iron Chef America. Chef Garces is also the author of two cookbooks, The Latin Road Home (Lake Isle Press, October 2012), a culinary and cultural tour of Ecuador, Spain, Mexico, Cuba and Peru, and his stunning first cookbook, Latin Evolution (Lake Isle Press, Fall 2008).

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Chef de Cuisine Natalie Maronski is one of Philadelphia’s most exciting young chefs. She has worked closely with Chef Garces since 2006, beginning at his iconic first restaurant, Amada, and later as a sous chef at Rittenhouse Square’s gracious Basque tapas bar, Tinto. More recently, she served as chef de cuisine at Chifa, the boundary-pushing Latin-Asian restaurant where Chef Garces offered some of his most innovative and exciting menus to date. Chef Maronski is a graduate of Drexel University, where she earned her B.S. in Culinary Arts. Prior to joining Garces Group, she worked under renowned Chef Jean-Marie Lacroix. She resides in Philadelphia with her two dogs, Cornelius and Wilma.

General Manager Robert Delarosa comes to Volvér from the St. Regis Bal Harbour’s J&G Grill, where he served as general manager and executed the famously exacting service standards of owner Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Prior to J&G, his leadership propelled AZUL at the Mandarin Oriental Brickell Key to a fifth Forbes star, making them the first and only five-star restaurant in Florida and one of only 27 worldwide. His leadership experience includes iconic properties in Miami and Las Vegas, as well as the launch of Celebrity Cruises’ Solstice and her sister ship, Eclipse. He has also served as a fine wine sales consultant, and his extensive experience as a general manager makes him an ideal choice to lead Chef Garces’ team at Volvér.

Sommelier Gordana Kostovski brings a wealth of experience to Volvér. She is certified by the Court of Master Sommeliers and has earned two of Wine Spectator’s prestigious Awards of Excellence, including a Best of Award of Excellence for her exemplary work at Del Frisco’s in Philadelphia. Most recently, she worked as a sommelier at Azure by LDV at Revel Resort; previously, she has earned accolades for her management expertise and deep wine knowledge as the general manager and sommelier of Philadelphia’s Twenty21. She is thrilled and proud to lead the wine team at Volvér.