“Modern American, artistically prepared on the plate,” is how native Floridian Chef Jason M. Klingensmith defines his style in the kitchen. Central Florida flavors are on his new menu at The Alfond Inn at Rollins in Winter Park, Florida now that Chef Klingensmith has become the new Executive Chef at the hotel’s restaurant, Hamilton’s Kitchen.
A Miami native and longtime Executive Chef of The Country Club of Orlando, he plans to impart a decidedly Central Florida zest to the menu at Hamilton’s Kitchen.
His mission, he says is to “source as many local ingredients as possible and lighten the menu with the addition of salads, lighter sauces and half orders, while creating ‘Southern-inspired’ fare with a modern spin.”
Chef Klingensmith has spent his career teaching and perfecting an approach to cooking that is based on a continual quest for growth and new ideas. It’s an apt philosophy for The Alfond Inn at Rollins, which is owned by adjacent Rollins Cllege and donates all of its net profits to student scholarships. He envisions The Alfond Inn restaurant and banquet kitchens as dynamic environments that foster teaching, learning and constant inspiration — for his culinary team, as well as restaurant and event guests. He sees The Alfond Inn as the ideal culinary classroom, one with the potential to engage its clientele in the experience. To that end, Chef Klingensmith will introduce new small cooking classes and demos, including pre-nuptial and bridal party cooking classes, as well as market tours of the Winter Park Farmers’ Market.
If you’re a guest at The Alfond Inn at Rollins, you can expect to see more fresh seafood options and variations on Central and South Florida dishes, such as pan seared Yellowtail snapper, black beans and rice, heirloom tomato relish and local greens, are also in the works. “It’s a dish with South Florida flair, but utilizes locally farmed ingredients from our area,” Chef Klingensmith says. “It reflects the lighter seasonal aspect of the menu changes and the kind of fresh new flavors I’ll be bringing to The Alfond Inn.”
Chef Klingensmith is also looking forward to developing the existing Chef’s Table dinners into more impromptu, inspired experiences for the maximum eight guests at the table. The Hamilton’s Kitchen Chef’s Table dinners have always featured a special tasting menu, yet Klingensmith plans to add elements of spontaneity and invention. Supplied in large part by the seasonal bounty he sources at the Winter Park Farmers Market, he plans to create a fresh new menu for each Chef’s Table event, with wines specially recommended for the evening and poured by the Sommelier.
