New to the Pilar Local Restaurant & Bar team is executive chef Erica Nicholl. The Texas-born chef who got her AAS Degree in Culinary Arts, Baking and Hospitality at the age of 21, earned her chops at the Crescent Hotel by Rosewood Hotels & Resorts before accepting a position at the recently revamped Aventura eatery.
Prior to this she was briefly the personal chef of Bill and Melinda Gates and their family while in Antigua, then Mario Batali and his family. Later Nicholl took a position as the chef de cuisine for George Bush's presidential library and museum, where she oversaw the catering kitchen and prepared meals for the Bush family.
After moving down to Miami she, per a press release, "fatefully crossed paths with restaurateur Mitch Sklawer who immediately was impressed with her proficiency and offered her the executive chef position" at Pilar, which he took ownership of about a year ago.