Taj Boston Names New Executive Chef and Pastry Chef

Taj Boston recently made new appointments to the landmark luxury hotel’s F&B management team. Jesse D. Souza was named Taj Boston executive chef and Robert D. Alger is the Taj Boston pastry chef.

A passion for regional American cooking informs Souza’s guidance of all culinary operations at Taj Boston. Among his many responsibilities, he oversees The Café, with its popular daily breakfast, lunch, and dinner options, including New England favorites and authentic Indian specialty dishes; The Bar, which offers small plates nightly to accompany its extensive list of cocktails and wines and Champagnes by the glass; The Lounge, which features traditional afternoon tea on weekends and holiday teas from Thanksgiving weekend through December 31; seasonal Sunday Champagne brunch on The Roof; 24-hour in-room dining, and all banquet and catering for the hotel’s many corporate meetings and social gatherings.

Previously, Souza spent seven years as executive cef with Noble House Hotels and Resorts, including Riviera Resort and Spa, Palm Springs, Calif.; Portofino Hotel and Yacht Club, Redondo Beach, Calif; La Playa Beach and Golf Resort, Naples, Fla.; and Grove Isle Hotel and Spa, Coconut Grove, Fla. He also served as executive chef for Natasha’s in Portland, Maine, and with Havana in Bar Harbor, Maine; as executive chef and chef de cuisine for two Chispa restaurants in Florida, and as executive sous chef for Little Palm Island Resort and Spa, Florida Keys, and The Claremont Resort and Spa, Berkeley, Calif.

Alger brings more than two decades of experience creating high quality American and European desserts, wedding cakes, pastries, and chocolate and sugar showpieces to his new role as pastry chef. At Taj Boston, Alger is charged with designing inventive confections for The Café, The Bar, afternoon tea, seasonal Sunday Champagne brunch, 24-hour in-room dining, and corporate meetings and private social events, including gala weddings.

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Most recently executive pastry chef with The Essex, Vermont’s Culinary Resort and Spa, Alger also held that title at The Grove Park Inn, Asheville, N.C.; The Trapp Family Lodge, Stowe, Vt.; The Loews Hotel, Atlanta; Four Seasons Hotels in Atlanta, Chicago, and Houston; and The Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore. Midway through his career, he spent a decade operating The Café Company and Café in Marietta, Ga., a successful bakery and café, where he prepared all food and pastries from scratch on a daily basis. He is a culinary graduate of Johnson and Wales University, Providence, R.I.

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