Following a five year tenure at the Renaissance Hotel in Long Beach, Executive Chef Michael Poompan was given two of Marriott’s top culinary awards, The Award of Culinary Excellence and Renaissance Chef of the Year for the Americas.

“It is a great honor to win the award for the Renaissance best chef for the America’s, the award celebrates our commitment to great food made with amazing ingredients from our local farmers, ranchers, artisans, and fishermen, and our commitment to supporting our local community through volunteering and events,” Poompan told the Post.

Poompan—who has overseen the menu of Sip following the departure of Suzanne Tracht’s self-named restaurant—is no stranger to hotel and resort cooking, having previously worked at the Meritage Resort, Ritz-Carlton and the Disneyland Resort. He has also contributed to the Long Beach Post to help educate and engage Long Beach in their local farmer markets.

“We are very proud of Chef Poompan, not only for his excellent work at the Renaissance, for also for his invaluable service to our community,” said Nusrat Mirza, General Manager of the Renaissance Long Beach Hotel. “He has provided his expertise for a number of our local charitable groups. This past year he has provided culinary help to Long Beach’s Ronald McDonald House.”

“At the same time there is an entire team behind me that deserves recognition,” Poompan explained, “because without the tireless efforts of the cooks and dishwashers in the kitchen the award wouldn’t be possible, so Thanks goes to my team for all of your efforts in continually improving what we do everyday, taking care of every guest, and making the Renaissance such a great place to work everyday.”