Culinary Kingdom

Chef Daven Wardynski works wonders at the Omni Amelia Island Plantation Resort as a keeper of fine cuisine, not to mention bees. 

- Joseph Hayes

AMELIA ISLAND, ON the northeast tip of Florida, is a place of history and wealth. It houses multiple golf courses, several resorts, two state parks and the northernmost city on Florida’s Atlantic coast, Fernandina Beach, which combines decades of Northern-influenced architecture, undiscovered beaches and a surprisingly vibrant food scene.

I’d never explored farther north than Jacksonville, and I was pleasantly surprised by the feel of Fernandina’s downtown, lined with Beaux Arts, Queen Anne and Victorian buildings rarely seen still standing, and some fine food havens.

But it was a stay at the Omni Amelia Island Plantation Resort that introduced me to the best chef you’ve never heard of—Daven Wardynski, who directs its culinary path with finesse, creativity and an astounding level of skill.

Turning out stellar cuisine from a large staff in a massive kitchen is difficult. And when you look at the numbers at the Omni—nine restaurants, 404 guest rooms and suites with room service, 300 villas, innumerable banquets, special events and weddings, and 2,500 homes in the Plantation community that can pick up a phone and order food delivery—I was fully expecting an acceptable but unexciting dining experience.

Imagine my delight when the Omni’s executive chef made my head spin.

Wardynski, 41, is a farm kid from Michigan, who takes lessons learned in his grandmother’s kitchen and applies them to cooking for the masses. Curing his own meats, making pickles from his harvest of zucchini, fermenting vinegar from leftover banquet wine, is just the beginning of his dedication to real food.