David Fernandez

Le Cordon Bleu

Graduated from the Los Angeles campus of Le Cordon Bleu — one of the world's oldest and most storied culinary institutions, founded in Paris in 1895, and whose alumni include Julia Child. David completed the program with a flawless GPA, served as student body class president, and led the school's off-campus catering and event program.

Bouchon Bistro

First professional kitchen after school: a Thomas Keller restaurant. Keller remains the only American-born chef to hold multiple three-Michelin-star restaurants simultaneously — The French Laundry and Per Se — and the first American male chef awarded France's Légion d'Honneur. Bouchon Beverly Hills held an Automobile Club Four Diamond rating and was named best French bistro in Los Angeles by the Los Angeles Times. David entered as commis and worked his way onto the hot line.

Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa

Joined the culinary team of Disney's flagship luxury hotel at the Disneyland Resort — home to Napa Rose, a perennial AAA Four Diamond recipient, Wine Spectator Award of Excellence honoree, and Wine Enthusiast Award of Ultimate Distinction awardee. The hotel's culinary program operates at the intersection of resort scale and fine dining discipline.

Carthay Circle Restaurant

Selected as part of the opening team for Carthay Circle — Disney's flagship fine dining restaurant inside California Adventure, housed in a faithful architectural recreation of the historic 1926 Carthay Circle Theatre where Walt Disney premiered Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. In its first year, the restaurant earned the Themed Entertainment Association's Thea Award, the highest honor in the themed experience industry. David progressed from Chef de Partie to Sous Chef during his tenure.

Fashion Island Hotel

Joined as Sous Chef and advanced to Chef Tournant — a roving leadership role responsible for all food and beverage facilities across the property. This included full oversight of banquets and off-site events serving up to 3,000 guests, developing operational depth across every department of a full-service luxury hotel.

Brush Creek Ranch

Accepted the position of Executive Sous Chef at one of America's most decorated luxury properties — a Condé Nast Readers' Choice #1 ranked stay in the United States and a Forbes Travel Guide Five Star hotel. Spanning 30,000 acres of Wyoming wilderness, Brush Creek operates its own Akaushi and Tajima heritage wagyu cattle program, seed-to-table greenhouses, on-site goat creamery, bakery, and distillery. The property's commitment to provenance and farm-to-table dining is not a concept — it is the infrastructure.

David was promoted to Chef de Cuisine, then Executive Chef. In his final season, he led the complete opening of a new restaurant: menu development, recipe creation, prep and order guides, equipment specification and placement, staffing, scheduling, SOPs, and test service from concept to cover.

A Different Kind of Kitchen

At the close of 2022, David stepped away from professional kitchens — maintaining a small roster of high-profile private clients — and taught himself to code. Progressing from QA Analyst to Site Reliability Engineer to DevOps Engineer, he brought to software the same discipline that had carried him through professional kitchens: systems thinking, relentless attention to detail, and a belief that every component in a functioning system must earn its place.

The technical chapter deepened something that was already present in his cooking. Precision is not ornamentation — it is the work itself.

GourmandTech LLC

When AI displaced the DevOps role in early 2026, David returned to food — fully, and with a sharper sense of why. GourmandTech is not a catering company. The name was chosen deliberately: gourmet food executed with technical precision. Every element intentional. Every plate a system where nothing is accidental and nothing is incidental.

Private chef experiences, in-home cooking classes, weekly meal preparation, and culinary consulting — each engagement built to the same exacting standard that defined two decades of professional cooking.