Chef Lewis had his first taste of the restaurant business at the age of 14. While looking for an odd job he stumbled upon a Northern Italian trattoria that was owned by a family from Bologna. The restaurant had garnered 3 stars from the New York Times and was located in his hometown of North Westchester, New York. When he peered in thru the kitchen door,   “I looked in, saw kind of a macabre dance going on... everyone was quiet.  Swinging pans around...knives... with the aromas of parmesan and olive oil wafting thru the air... I knew that I wanted to be in there."
Hooked by that one moment, Brian worked in the trattoria for the seven year period from high school thru his attendance at the Culinary Institute of America.

After completing his studies at C.I.A, Brian embarked on a culinary journey that would not only expose him to a cornucopia of fine dining expertise but crystallize his desire to fulfill his dream to control his own kitchen. The first stop on his journey was in the kitchen of the immortal Chef John-Louis Palladin in Washington, D.C, where he spent almost a year learning at the feet of one of the greats. “I found my way as a cook in the kitchen of Palladin...those four walls were France, make no mistake about it … without even trying he was a pioneer for French and American chefs alike. He brought cooking organically to America. Cooking organically was not a chic thing back then...it was just the way you do it .”You were not doing it because you had to...you were doing it because it is just what you knew. I do not think it was called organic as much then, seeking out small farms. It left an indelible impression on me."

After his time at Palladin, he headed out West to work as Sous-Chef at the Ritz Carlton at Laguna Nigel. "My time there broadened my horizons as far as how simple and clean food could be...food did not need to be cooked so much, things could just be lighter. You do not realize that you are becoming a young chef at that point. You are just working and cooking and everything in your life is about cooking and then surfing." After three years in California, he decided that he was ready for the next step in his journey:  the bright lights of NYC. He spent four years in NYC as the Sous-Chef at the Sign of the Dove and then as Sous-Chef at Lutece.

After gaining invaluable experience on both American coasts, Brian decided to cross the Pond, to do a period of comprehensive stagenaire training in London. While in London, he primarily worked for the infamous Marco Pierre White. Brian loved the dining scene in London. He felt it was "sophisticated and unique unto it's own." After London, he traveled to Lyon, Nice and Monaco amongst other places to further broaden his experience and hone his craft.

After spending 8 months abroad, he returned to America accepting his first Executive Chef Job at Bix in San Francisco." I was thoroughly influenced by my travels in Europe. It allowed me to really begin to shape my cuisine. I was most influenced by Marco Pierre White's Style." Marco's style was characterized as, "very sophisticated and elegant, modern French cooking but really grounded in tradition."  While at Bix, Brian had a cook right out of high school working for him as a "stage" for 6 months and whom you can now find him on the October cover of Gourmet Magazine- Chef Homaro Cantu of Moto. After Bix, he worked at Chef Mark Sullivan's (Food and Wine Magazine "Best New Chef" 2002) much acclaimed Village Pub as Chef de Cuisine.

Brian then headed back to New York and worked as Chef de Cuisine at the renowned Oceana with Executive Chef Cornelius Gallagher (Food and Wine Magazine "Best New Chef" 2003). While looking for an opportunity to open his own restaurant, Brian accepted an offer to become Executive Chef of the Greene House in Scottsdale. The Greene House found immediate success and landed on the "Best New Restaurant" list of Phoenix Magazine. At this point, opportunity came knocking, or more specifically the Hyatt Regency Scottsdale, and Brian accepted the Executive Chef position at Vu.

Chef Lewis has just recently debuted his first menu and if this is a glimpse of what is to come then watch out Phoenix! In the coming weeks, Brian will be incorporating local ingredients from some of the top purveyors in the state; Crooked Sky Farms, Duncan Farms and McClendon Farms. According to Chef Lewis," The local ingredients place on the menu is seasonally influenced by the growing cycle here because of the heat that they have to deal with. Those relationships and the products that I will be drawing from these local farms will become central to the style of my cooking here and paramount to it. The cuisine is driven by the product ... We are really going to drive that and support these folks and the management team at the Hyatt is very much behind me on this. I think it is great for our diners and it is great that our young chefs will be able to work like that and have an awareness of the product... local products brilliantly fresh coming in with the roots still on it, now that is cooking!"

Chef Lewis will vary the menus according to what is in season. There will be weekly tweaks but not wholesale changes."I have spent the better part of my life cooking and the ongoing thrill and excitement of not being able to sleep at night because you are thinking so much about a dish is something that I never want to lose."

The Vu is the perfect venue for Chef Lewis to express his passion. This may be the best time of year to dine at the Vu with its retractable floor to ceiling glass windows that makes dining al freco a joy. There is seating available outside on the patio as well as within a gazebo nestled in a fountained lagoon.