Lee Hillson
Executive Chef, Royal Palms Resort and Spa
Growing up, British-born Lee Hillson initially aspired to a life more Law & Order in nature than Top Chef.
“I wanted to be a police officer, but my dreams were dashed when everyone in my life said I would never meet the height requirements in England,” says Hillson, noting at that time one had to be 5’ 8” or taller to serve. “So, I turned to the kitchen, where I found I had limitless passion with no height requirement.”
By the time he hit a growth spurt and reached 5’ 10”, cooking had his heart. After high school, Hillson attended culinary school at London’s Bournemouth and Poole College in the 1990s.
“I first ended up in the United States—in Austin—after a female friend invited me to come stay with her,” says Hillson. “While it was platonic, her boyfriend didn’t like the idea, so she never even came to the airport to fetch me!”
Though jobless and essentially homeless, Hillson took it in stride. In fact, he had a chef position within a few weeks.
“I honed my skills in Austin and then back in London, in the South of France, and then across the Northeast for over a decade before moving to Phoenix in 2000 to apply for a position at The Ritz-Carlton,” says Hillson.
However, while driving down Camelback for the interview, he passed the Royal Palms and thought it was enchanting.
“I walked in and talked my way into a line cook position that same day. By 2004, I was executive chef, where I served until 2012,” he says. He would go on to lead both The Phoenician and Sheraton Wild Horse Pass before coming back “home” to the Royal Palms in 2019. RoyalPalmsHotel.com
Rebecca Tillman
Executive Chef, LON’s at The Hermosa Inn
Valley foodies have summer’s sweetest treat to thank for first inspiring Irish-born and Arizona-raised Rebecca Tillman.
“At 16, I worked at Swensen’s as an ice cream scooper,” she says. “Beyond learning how to make their then-famed bubble gum ice cream, the job inspired me to learn more about hospitality as a career.”
Seeking her niche within the industry, after high school Tillman studied hotel and restaurant management at Northern Arizona University.
“When you go through their program, you study every aspect of the industry, from front of the house service to housekeeping to cooking,” says Tillman. “When I got into a kitchen, it changed my life. So much so that I enrolled in a culinary program at the Art Institute of Phoenix after earning my degree in 2001.”
Upon that graduation, Tillman made her way to the Arizona Biltmore for an entry-level position. There, she met then-Chef de Cuisine Rick Boyer.
“He became my mentor and frequent colleague,” says Tillman. “After the Biltmore, he recruited me to The Biltmore Company, a grand estate with extensive fine dining culinary operations in North Carolina, and then to Destination Kohler, a five-star property in Wisconsin.”
Tillman’s first executive chef position came in 2014, when the Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak recruited her back to Arizona. At the time, she was the only female executive chef at a resort in the Valley.
“Rick recruited me one more time after that, this time to The Phoenician, where I worked as executive chef sous chef from 2017 until this past spring,” says Tillman.
In June, The Hermosa Inn recruited her to be its executive chef.
“When opportunity like that knocks, you open the door,” says Tillman, who will release her first LON’s menu this month. HermosaInn.com
Marcos Seville
Executive Chef, Omni Scottsdale Resort & Spa at Montelucia
With his given name, one might assume Marcos Seville is from the French Riviera.
“I was actually born at Williams Field Air Force Base and grew up in Phoenix and San Diego,” says Seville, noting that his family moved as his father’s station in the military did.
With his father often out to sea, much of the day-to-day care for Seville and his three brothers fell to his mother. Given that she had a full-time job, Seville helped in whatever ways he could.
“Cooking became my favorite means of chipping in,” says Seville.
It became so much so that when he learned that his high school, Metro Tech, offered a Careers Through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP), he immediately enrolled. Upon graduation in 2001 and through C-CAP, Seville earned a scholarship to the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in New York City.
“After graduating from CIA in 2003, I made my way back to Arizona,” he says. “Being an Arizona native, my aim was to work with the wonderful produce, meats, and diverse cultures I grew up with, finding ways to showcase them to the world.”
Seville’s first big break would be a position with the Arizona Biltmore in 2003. Over the next 10 years, he worked his way up in the industry, eventually serving in leadership roles with the Renaissance Phoenix Glendale Hotel & Spa and Hyatt Regency Orlando. In 2013, the Omni Scottsdale came calling with a sous chef position. By 2016, he was named executive chef.
“Over the past four years, our signature eatery, Prado, has been a point of pride, where we’ve added a tapas bar, chef’s table, and a taqueria,” says Seville. “It is the ultimate space to showcase the diverse flavors of the Southwest.” OmniHotels.com/hotels/scottsdale-montelucia