If food handn't won out, Derek Morgan would have been a ski instuctor instead of the executive chef at D Morgan's. Derek grew up north of Atlanta and spent Christmas holidays with his family in Colorado, skiing constantly. After graduating from the University of Georgia, he began cooking in Los Angeles and later in Phoenix, Arizona as the chef at T. Cooks, the Royal Palms' restaurant and was integral in the production of the coffee-table book, Desert Romance: The History, Style & Food of the Royal Palms Resort & Spa

Seemingly intricate, but beguilingly simple dishes define what Chef Derek Morgan' cuisine of 'grand simplicity' is all about." The less you can do to alter the flavor of an ingredient, the better," says Morgan. Keep a dish to two or three ingredients that marry well." - La Cucina Italiana.