Chef Patrick Kehler comes to work every day ready to make magic happen. He’s striving, at all times, to create the best meals and experiences for everyone who walks through the doors of the Phoenix Convention Center.
Creating memorable dishes with unique flavors and distinctive combinations, Kehler puts the innovation in "Innovation Kitchen."
The Innovation Kitchen is a state-of-the-art space outfitted with everything a chef needs and serves as the location for tastings with potential clients, special dinners with the chef and sales site visits.
“This space is a gateway to the kitchen,” Kehler said. “We allow our doors to open to the public, and that isn’t an experience you can get really anywhere else.”
The Innovation Kitchen was remodeled in 2020 with updated appliances and a "homier look and feel," Kehler said. With a center island, a stovetop, oven space and barstool seating, the space is perfect for entertaining and showing off the staff's creativity.
“You get a real sense of what the experience of eating here is like in the Innovation Kitchen,” Kehler said. “We really give them something that no other place can do. The space creates a bond, you get to know me, the chef, and see firsthand what kind of team we have and how we work together to make everything the best it can be.”
The name: Innovation Kitchen, Kehler said, is a good reminder to him to constantly work to be better. This summer, he’s going to further his culinary education at a two-week Master Chef course in New York and said he’s excited to bring his newfound knowledge back to the Convention Center.
"A chef needs to be constantly innovating and evolving," Kehler said. "I'm committed to making this the best Convention Center. I'm proud to work here and challenged every day to do better than the day before."
Kehler said interacting with clients and guests in the Innovation Kitchen is one of his favorite parts of his job with Aventura at the Phoenix Convention Center & Venues.
"I like to interact with the guests, and it makes putting on their event a lot easier when we know each other as people ahead of time," Kehler said. "Putting names to faces and showing them our committment to make the food for their event the best it can possibly be, it makes everything flow better when the time comes for the event."
In early August it was announced Kehler had graduated from the Culinary Institute of America's ProChef certification program. This is an additional industry-recognized verification of a chef's skill and represents the first step in their journey of lifelong learning in the food world.