Chef Andres Davila on the Meaning of “One Happy Island”
Andres Davila’s earliest memory of cooking is centered around a cookbook his mother gave him. “One day, she brought me a book created by UNICEF about food around the world,” Davila says. “The first thing that I remember cooking is stuffed tomatoes when I was maybe six years old.” He remembers being interested in watching the adults around him cook before that but was never involved in the kitchen until then.
— By Kylee Ross
— Photography Kenneth Theysen
Andres Davila
Complex Executive Chef – Aruba Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino
His mother originally got her hands on the book because she worked for international organizations in Ecuador, Davila says. And when Davila was old enough to start thinking about his own career, he started on a path toward political relations, too. While he was studying political relations, he also went to culinary school because it made him happy. “At first, my parents didn't want me to study culinary arts. They thought of it as a hobby, as a secondary thing,” Davila says.
It was a call from the JW Marriott in Quito selecting the best students in the class for an internship that made Davila split from his double-career life and commit to his passion. “That's when I decided, ‘Okay, I’m going to pursue this,’” Davila remembers. “I think I make a lot more people happy with my culinary skills than I would have in politics.”
While in school, Davila worked in the service line of a staff cafeteria in his native country of Ecuador. The same company owned a seafood restaurant where Davila remembers cleaning 35 kilograms of shrimp a week, selecting single grains of rice to filter out rocks and debris and peeling entire bags of potatoes. “I realized that in every single thing that you do, discipline is always going to win over the talent,” Davila says. “The discipline of doing those things to perform the techniques better makes you as a person and makes your character.”
Davila moved to Aruba after gaining more than 20 years of culinary experience, most recently holding the position of executive chef for JW Marriott Panama. “We were in the big city and we were homesick,” Davila says. Prior to working in Panama City, Davila first experienced Caribbean living as executive sous-chef for the Grand Cayman Marriott Resort. “We missed the beach and the kindness of the people. We missed being in a place where everyone knew each other,” Davila adds when explaining what drew him and his wife back to the Caribbean. “You can make people much happier [in the Caribbean],” Davila says. “When you work in the city, everyone is in a rush. In the Caribbean, everyone comes to enjoy their vacations and special occasions.”
Davila leads the culinary operations for Aruba Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino, Marriott’s Aruba Surf Club and Marriott’s Aruba Ocean Club. He is responsible for overseeing 14 on-site restaurants including the recently-opened restaurants Mercát and Campeones Cantina, and the well-known beachfront restaurant Atardi. His personal mandate is to remind his team that cooking is a labor of love. “The reason we feed people is to make them feel happier,” Davila says. “The person who fed you your whole life did it because that person loves you. So what happens when you're doing that as a profession or as a craft? Well, that love needs to be there as well.”
Now, as complex executive chef at the Aruba Marriott Complex, Davila is surrounded by happiness. “That’s what made me come to Aruba,” Davila says. He heard about people referring to the island as “One Happy Island” and was drawn to a country that hosted visitors from around the world while maintaining a strong sense of community. “It makes you think about what happiness really is. Maybe happiness isn’t seeing carnival on every corner,” Davila reflects. “Maybe happiness is about having a good way of living.”
He infuses happiness into his work as complex executive chef by embracing balance. “I try to bring positivity to my role. I meditate every day in the morning and sometimes the messages that I get from guided meditations stay in my head,” Davila says. “Messages that make me feel comfortable with myself are the ones I try to share with the team. I also push them to pursue their own happiness because that's going to reflect on what we are doing every day.”
In just a year and a half, Davila says he’s opened more restaurants at the Aruba Marriott Complex than he has in his entire career. “We opened Mercát, we changed the Atardi and Waves Bar & Grill kitchens and we opened Campeones Cantina & Tequila Bar as a new restaurant,” Davila says. “But I'm most proud of seeing how everyone on the team builds themselves up and how they own their own happiness.”
Aruba Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino
Lloyd G. Smith Blvd. 101Palm Beach
(297) 586-9000
