David Gilbert is former executive chef of Dallas’ most innovative restaurant concept, LuQa. Passionate about his craft, Chef Gilbert is one of the youngest chefs to command kitchens of fine dining caliber. His achievements demonstrate how his creativity, dedication and philosophy have made him a renowned and impressive chef.

Chef Gilbert’s roots were firmly set in food and at the early age of 15 where he began his trade at Northwood Country Club. After graduating from Johnson and Wales University’s culinary arts program in South Carolina, he landed a spot at Michelin Two-Star-rated Restaurant Vermeer located in Amsterdam.  This opportunity accelerated his career, enabling him to move from kitchen to kitchen working with some of the best chefs in the world.

After working at several well-established restaurants and hotels, including The Ritz-Carlton in Buckhead, Atlanta, and St. Thomas as well as the Four Star, AAA Four Diamond Orient Express Hotel in St. Michaels, Maryland, Chef Gilbert landed at the award-winning Chase Park Plaza Hotel’s Eau Bistro, a Four Star and AAA Four Diamond property in St. Louis, as the Chef de Cuisine.  It was at Eau Bistro where Gilbert gained critical acclaim for introducing an unusual, yet edgy intermezzo course where diners mist their mouths with a few quick sprays of “tropical fruit salad” from one of his innovative serving pieces and took a long sniff of a vanilla bean to refresh the palate before eating.

After being named 2004 Best Chef in St. Louis by The River Front Times, Chef Gilbert was most recently hand-picked by the Beverly Hilton Hotel to serve as executive chef of the hotel’s landmark restaurant, a main stay in Hollywood since the 1940s. During his tenure, he served numerous celebrities at the restaurant and personally catered home parties as well as high-profile celebrity events, including the Golden Globe Awards in 2004 and 2005.

Chef Gilbert has made a name for himself in the world of fine dining and has appeared on a number of TV shows, including E!, FOX's “Good Morning Alabama” show in Birmingham and ABC's “Food for Thought” show in Charleston, South Carolina.  In addition, Chef Gilbert has been featured in Beverly Hills Outlook Magazine, Sauce Magazine, St. Louis Magazine and The River Front Times. Chef Gilbert also was nominated for Best Chef and Best Fine Dining Restaurant for Saint Louis in 2004 by Sauce Magazine.  In 2000, Gilbert won a Bronze Medal at the Chaine des Rotisseurs junior commis competition followed by a Silver Medal in 2001. In addition has received four stars from Kim Harwell of the Dallas Morning News and Ft. Worth Star Telegram.

Most recently Chef Gilbert won the prestigious Rising Star Chef Award from Starchefs.com, which has put him in the national spotlight. 

Govind Armstrong | David Gilbert | Dewey LoSasso | Tracy Miller | Martial Noguier | Allen Susser