Executive Chef
Paul Carter is the Executive Chef at The Phoenician, a 654-room luxury resort in Scottsdale, Arizona. Chef Carter supervises a staff of over 150 and nine kitchen operations including Windows on the Green, The Terrace, The Phoenician Café/ Ice Cream Parlor, The 19th Hole, Oasis Grill, Canyon Oasis, In Room Dining, and all the Banquet kitchens. He also oversees pastry, bakeshop, butcher shop, pasta shop and garde manger operations. As the resort’s Executive Chef, he takes charge of all menu creations and preparations, overseeing daily supervision and training of restaurant staff. According to Carter, “Perfecting simplicity, is the essence to great food.”

Chef Carter’s worldwide background has provided him with a culinary expertise that far exceeds his 17 years of cooking. His love affair with the kitchen dates back to his early teens. A native of London, Carter attend Colchester Institute of Culinary Arts in Essex, at the young age of 15 yrs. Upon earning a three-year culinary degree, he began his cooking career at the Hotel Sonnenhügel in Bad Kissingham, Germany where he held the title of Commis de Cuisine. He later served in the same capacity at Chateau de Montreil in France for three years. After rising through the ranks in the kitchens, he moved to the venerable Connaught Hotel in London where he held posts in all kitchen operations from butcher, to garde manger, saucier of fine dining, to banquets. In 1992, Carter moved to the United States to head up kitchens at world class resorts including Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel, California where he held the position of “Saucier” for the fine dining restaurant. He held the position of Executive Sous Chef at the Ritz Carlton, Naples, Florida and also the Executive Chef at the exclusive Vinings Club in Atlanta, Georgia. Prior to joining The Phoenician, he was Executive Chef at the Ritz-Carlton Cleveland, Ohio.

Carter is the 1991 recipient of the coveted William Heptionstall award, an honor given to “The Most Enterprising Young Chef in the U.K.” He also received the Maitrise Culinaire Diplome by Palmes Culinaire in 2002.




Chef de Cuisine - Il Terrazzo
Leading the culinary team at Il Terrazzo is Chef de Cuisine Victor Casanova. His daily responsibilities include overseeing kitchen operations and food preparations for Il Terrazzo, the Thirsty Camel Lounge and the resort’s In-Room Dining Department. He is also the innovative mind behind the new restaurant’s authentic Italian menu, commanding a culinary staff of 43, while procuring the premium ingredients featured in the many signature dishes presented for breakfast, lunch and dinner. As director and implementer of these numerous functions, Casanova provides the creative vision for one of the Valley’s finest Italian dining experiences.

Proudly incorporating rustic and robust flavors into the entrees served at Il Terrazzo, Casanova designs the menus to go beyond the conventional tomato, mozzarella and basil combinations, resulting in savory cuisine inspired by Tuscany, Sardinia and Sicily, adapted to an American style. Committed to using only the freshest, highest-quality ingredients, he produces colorful and exuberant dining selections that are pleasing to both the eye and the palate. Such temptations include agnolotti filled with sweet corn, mascarpone, goat cheese and thyme; and black angus rib cap tagliata served with wilted spinach and squid ink gnocchi. Another palatial pleasure on the menu is cacciucco, a spicy Tuscan seafood stew with plum tomatoes, Sardinian fregola, squid, clams, shrimp and mussels.

Casanova brings a great diversity to his new role, previously holding positions at numerous well-known and respected up-scale dining establishments around the country. A graduate of The Institute of Culinary Education, he most recently served as Sous Chef at New York’s Ocean Grill, where he was in charge of menu development and staff training while overseeing the operations of two dining rooms. His prior experience also includes two years as Sous Chef for Neros at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas; and four years as Chef at Buca Giovanni in San Francisco, where he designed a boutique all-Italian wine list while executing a daily farmers’ market menu. Casanova honed his culinary skills as a line cook at such celebrated New York establishments as the chic, Northern Italy-influenced Alto and Tuscan-style Beppe; the French-American DB Bistro Moderne and the inventive American Gramercy Tavern.



Chef de Cuisine - Windows on the Green
Roberto Sanchez is the Chef de Cuisine at The Phoenician's signature restaurant, Windows on the Green. He combines the robust ingredients indigenous to the area with more traditional elements to produce imaginative Southwestern Grill selections such as Cornbread-Crusted Crab Cakes with Mango, Avocado and citrus; Sweet Onion and lobster Tamale with Roasted Corn Salsa; Tortilla soup with Roasted Chicken and Avocado Relish; Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Sweet Potato Mash, Roasted Vegetables and Port Wine Reduction; and Herb-Seared Salmon with Mango Jalapeno Emulsion.
Sanchez has been a member of The Phoenician culinary team since 1988. A self-taught chef from La Piezad, Mexico, Sanchez has had a life-long passion for cooking and with humble beginnings as a prep cook for Coco's Restaurants; he started the pursuit of his dream. His career at The Phoenician began at The Terrace Dining Room as pantry cook, followed by a move to line cook at the resort's showpiece restaurant Mary Elaine's.

In 1991 Sanchez learned the art of grill and sauté under the direction of Chefs Lenny Ruben and Robert McGrath at Windows on the Green. Now, as Chef de Cuisine, his contributions and commitment to the resort have earned him the title he has desired for so long.

With its expanse of windows overlooking The Phoenician’s lush golf course and the mountains beyond, Windows on the Green offers a stunning panoramic vista coupled with a modern, casual dining experience.