Topnotch names chef

Mark Timms has been named executive chef at Topnotch Resort and Spa in Stowe.

Timms will be responsible for all culinary operations and menu creation at the resort, including Norma’s Restaurant, The Spa at Topnotch, in-room dining, and banquets and special events.

“We’re delighted to welcome Mark to our corner of Vermont and licking our lips at the culinary talent he brings,” said Dan Oberlander, managing director at Topnotch Resort and Spa. “Travelers these days are more demanding than ever for quality ingredients, inventive cuisine, and at least a dash of star power in the kitchen. Mark will be satisfying our clientele across the board.”

Timms has been a featured guest chef on the “Late Night Saturday” television show, is featured in an upcoming episode of “Chopped” on the Food Network, won the 2007 Atlanta Iron Chef Competition and brought in “Best for Spa Cuisine 2008” honors from Condé Nast Traveler as a consulting executive chef at the Lodge at Woodloch Spa in Hawley, Pa.

He also earned AAA Four Diamond status and a Top Ten New Restaurant Award from the International Restaurant and Hospitality Rating Bureau while at Tristan, a restaurant in Charleston, S.C., he launched as a partner in 2001. He also participated in the Food & Wine Show 2000 in Stratton, Vt., alongside Ming Tsai and Todd English.

The Lodge at Woodloch Spa hired him specifically to improve its reputation for excellence in spa cuisine. Previously, Timms was executive chef at Vermont National Country Club in South Burlington, Royal & Ancient at Royal Lakes Country Club in Atlanta, Tristan, Stratton Mountain Resort, Brandon’s Restaurant of Arizona in Phoenix, and Union Station Hotel in Nashville. He got his start as a sous-chef at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Houston in 1990.

Timms, a native of Sheffield, England, was guild-certified in nouvelle cuisine by the Granville Culinary School in Sheffield.

He lives in Stowe with his wife and three children.