As chef de cuisine of Marisol at The Boca Raton, Chef Sami Bourmeche brings the French, North African and coastal Mediterranean flavors of his upbringing to the restaurant’s seaside setting. A member of the resort’s culinary team since 2005, Bourmeche has spent decades honing a cooking philosophy rooted in simplicity, quality ingredients and hospitality.

Born in Queens to a Puerto Rican mother and Tunisian father, Bourmeche spent much of his childhood in Tunisia, where his grandfather tended land filled with 1,100 olive trees and nearly everything the family ate came from their own backyard. Cooking ran in the family, too: His father was a chef who worked with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, and seven members of his extended family became chefs. Today, those formative experiences shape his approach at Marisol: Keep food simple, honor the ingredients and always put the guest first.