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STEVEN JAMISON, EXECUTIVE CHEF, SHERATON ATLANTA HOTEL

ATLANTA, FEBRUARY 2009 —Fortunately for the Sheraton Atlanta Hotel, Executive Chef Steven Jamison's goal of excelling in the culinary arts was not deterred by his mother and father's lack of enthusiasm when it came to cooking. “Mother was a terrible cook and my dad only cooked on Mother's Day—if mom was lucky. Happily my grandmother's sister was well-traveled—especially to Asia. As a youngster growing up in Orlando, Florida, I would pour over her books and photographs while she regaled me with stories of her travel and dining ventures throughout the Orient and Southeast Asia experiencing a fascinating variety of cooking styles, ingredients and dishes of the region.”

Chef Jamison now commands the entire Sheraton Atlanta culinary operation. This includes the creation of menus for the hotel's three restaurants, as well as the sizeable banquet service associated with the 90,000 square feet of convention and meeting facilities.

Jamison develops his menu ideas based on what he calls “Southern Evolution,” or utilizing distinctly southern regional ingredients for crafting international cuisine and vise versa. The storied cuisines and cooking techniques of Southeast Asia, particularly countries like Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar have also become part of his cultural repertoire based on his extensive travels throughout that region. His wife Navaporn (he calls her Amy) is also from Thailand and is a superb cook in her own right. Jamison has become part of a special cadre of hotel chefs whose training and experience encompass the best of Europe, Asia and the United States.

Jamison is a firm believer in securing only local and regional farms and purveyors for his ingredients. “I want to know exactly how and where my produce, meats and fresh seafood are grown and harvested. It is my culinary team's mission to ignite the palates of all Sheraton Atlanta guests with healthy, wholesome foods. I am very health conscious in securing, preparing and serving foods, and this is also the way I personally eat.”

Jamison began his cooking endeavors as a ten-year-old making pretty decent cheesecakes for friends and neighbors. Some years later he parlayed making cheesecakes into furthering his newfound passion by taking an apprenticeship at the Walt Disney World Culinary Academy in Orlando, Florida. Headed by acclaimed chef Tim Rosendahl, the teaching facility utilized the multi-cultural cuisines of EPCOT Center 's large number of themed resorts which embodied some of the finest European and North American culinary arts training programs available. It was here that Jamison, at age 21, found his niche and eagerly traded in his college accounting major for a career as a chef.

In 1996, following a three-year Disney Culinary Apprenticeship, Jamison served as sous chef for a bistro restaurant and exclusive country club in Florida before becoming the youngest executive chef in the history of The Tower Restaurant, a 35-year-old landmark that catered to an international clientele from atop the 32 nd floor of the Trans America building in Los Angeles.

He subsequently served as Executive Chef at the Wyndham Orlando, an 1100+ room resort destination where he continued to hone his cooking techniques before becoming the leading edge of the culinary scene at the Sheraton Atlanta Hotel in November 2007.

Jamison is living out his fondest dream as the Executive Chef of the 760 room flagship Sheraton Atlanta Hotel with words that resonate his simple philosophy-- “Whatever you do, make sure it is something you love and everything else will fall into place.”

More about Sheraton Atlanta Hotel: Atlanta's flagship Sheraton property with 760 rooms and suites is the city's sixth largest meeting and convention hotel. Amenities include a stunning indoor/outdoor Garden Courtyard with a retractable roof, and year-round swimming pool, 90,000 sq. ft. of meeting and event space, a 24-hour fitness center, full service business center, concierge, two ballrooms, three distinct restaurants, lively martini bar, a 24-hour deli, in room dining, and available wireless high-speed Internet access in guest rooms, suites, and all public and meeting space. Ideally located just 15 minutes from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the hotel is a consistent winner of the meetings industry's highest honors including the Corporate & Incentive Travel magazine's “Award of Excellence,” and Meetings & Conventions' “Gold Key Award” for 2008. Please visit www.SheratonAtlantaHotel.com or call (404) 659-6500 or (866) 221-9922. Hi-res images of the hotel may be downloaded www.SheratonAtlantaHotel.com/photogallery

Contact: Juliana High   
Marketing Manager   
Sheraton Atlanta Hotel
Tel: 404-614-8147 
FAX: 404-681-5306
jhigh@sheratonatl.com


PR Contact: Larry Mayran
Larry Mayran & Company
Cell: 404-386-5302
larrymayran@bellsouth.net