The winter tourism slump came as a shock to The Reefs’ executive chef Douglas Sisk.

Like magic, dinner guests disappeared.

“I arrived in May 2014 and we’d been making about 600 meals daily for hotel guests plus we were catering for lots of events,” he said.

“Come January 3, we had 20 dinner reservations. It was a shock.”

The 42-year-old chef decided to glam up the dining experience to keep diners coming year-round.

Step one was to transform a sleepy lounge into a new restaurant, Aqua Terra.

He added a chef’s table menu that includes delicacies such as monkfish liver, started posting images of yummy looking meals, and set up a website to increase restaurant traffic.

“The standards were high but everything was very dated,” he said. “I am trying to modernise things.”

He worked on many islands in the Caribbean and was executive chef at Carmine’s, a restaurant at Bahamas’ Atlantis resort, before moving here.

“Some of them had seasonal shifts, but nothing like Bermuda,” he said.

He started working in restaurants as a teenager to avoid the family photography business in St Louis, Missouri.

“I hated having my photograph taken,” he said. “When I was 14, I started working in a kitchen washing dishes and cleaning up.”

He had wanted a little spending money, but fell in love with cooking.

“I loved the creativity involved,” Mr Sisk said. “I liked producing something that people enjoyed eating.”

He studied culinary arts at Sullivan University in Louisville, Kentucky, then travelled the Caribbean and the United States extensively.

One of the highlights of his career was cooking for two American presidents.

“George Bush Sr actually patted me on the back and said, ‘Great lunch’,” Mr Sisk said. “It was for a fundraising event for his son during his campaign.

“For President Clinton it was a full democratic party event in St Louis at the Adam’s Mark Hotel, where I was a sous chef. I was chosen by the company to take care of the bill personally, while the secret service stood by.”

He was executive chef at The Sardine Factory, an upscale restaurant on Monterey Bay, California’s famed Cannery Row.

“We had celebrity chefs such as Rachael Ray and Bobby Flay film episodes of their shows there for the Food Network,” Mr Sisk said.

“That was exciting. It was a regular occurrence at the restaurant, which has been around since the 1960s. I was behind the scenes for Rachael Ray but I got to go live with Bobby Flay.”

His experience with island life came while working in Jamaica, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas.

“At Carmine’s, we were feeding about 800 diners per night,” he said.

“I learnt to deal with volume. I also learnt about sourcing ingredients.

“On an island, often you can’t just go down the street and buy specialised ingredients. You have to order them from overseas. I arrived in Bermuda already knowing my suppliers.”

Mr Sisk hopes to raise the standard of cooking in Bermuda. Last year, he coached Reefs chef David Ndungi to win the Rising Chef Competition.

“I love to compete,” he said. “When I worked in Jamaica I won a gold medal with the Jamaican National Team. I would like to start a national team in Bermuda. That has been a major goal since I arrived.

“It would be wonderful to have a team go and represent the country and help market the entire Island as a food destination. It’s a great way for young culinarians to grow as well.”

Despite his love for his job, he has no desire to own his own restaurant. “That would be a poor investment in today’s economic climate,” he said. “For me it was great to be in a high-end hotel and have the flexibility to be creative and innovate with different food styles.

“I get tons of interaction with the guests with the chef’s table and all the different events we do. I am a people person. I get along with everyone and enjoy interaction with people from around the world.”

n Visit www.chefdouglassisk.com or #chefdouglassisk on Instagram