City Cellar Names New Executive Chef

Rolando Anoceto (TBC Media Lab)

(PRESS RELEASE)_Rolando “Roly” Anoceto has recently been named executive chef at City Cellar Wine Bar & Grill in West Palm Beach, Florida. Nestled on the second floor at Rosemary Square, the sophisticated, American-style eatery’s fueled by an expansive open kitchen and a glass-enclosed wine room and a plein air bar known for its bustling, cocktail scene.

Born in West Palm Beach to Cuban parents, Rolando credits early academia for fostering his passion for cuisine and gastronomic artistry. While attending Lake Worth High School, he enrolled in the school’s culinary arts program where he excelled at plating and knife work and other integral industry essentials such as excellence in timing, cleanliness, and handling stress.

At 16 years old, he commenced his career in the foodservice industry as a food runner for Cucina Dell’ Arte, now Cucina Palm Beach. After graduating high school in 2007, he accepted a position as a line cook at City Cellar then made a lateral move to West Palm’s now-shuttered paninoteca and wine bar, Dolce de Palma. At City Cellar, he learned the art of butchering meats and fish and designed bespoke stone hearth pizzas and, at Dolce, he prepared unpretentious French and Italian fare alongside famed chef-owner Anthony de Palma. 

In 2010, he relocated to Pennsylvania with his wife Hillary to raise their children and to be closer to her family who reside in Lilitz. He served as a line cook at Gibraltar, a popular Mediterranean-seafood restaurant in Lancaster, before rising in rank as a sous chef at the Lancaster Marriott Hotel’s Penn Square Grille where he managed the kitchen line, developed recipes and seasonal menus, and trained staff.

Nearly three years later, he traded his post to rebuild, and rebrand, The Railroad House Inn, a historic property that shuttered in 2011 from river flooding, and served as its executive chef.

After transitioning to executive chef at The Local Table, a private and upscale restaurant in The Clubhouse of the Willow Valley Communities, he crafted harvest-inspired entrees with local and regional delicacies, like a tomme tart with roasted wild mushrooms duxelles, miners lettuce, black truffle vinaigrette, and arugula emulsion, and hosted wine-paired tasting menus with sommelier Christopher Trendler.  

Chef Rolando returned to his South Florida roots in 2017 and to City Cellar where he had once prepared Chilean sea bass and braised lamb shank and other menu favorites nearly a decade earlier. As sous chef, he designed menus, co-managed the restaurant’s charcuterie and dry-aging programs, and worked alongside executive chef Andris Salmanis before assuming his responsibilities in early 2019.

As City Cellar’s executive chef, chef Rolando draws inspiration from his time spent in modern American, Italian, and Mediterranean kitchens. Today, his dishes are imbued with global flavors and a certain je ne sais quoi that reflect his love for travel and a lifelong ethos that food should be fun and lighthearted. 

Chef Rolando resides in West Palm Beach with his wife and two children, Adrian and Esmé. An avid beach and inlet fisherman, he often cooks up “catches of the day” with an exotic twist for his family, such as pan-fried barracuda topped with mangrove snapper ceviche on jasmine rice. A self-described green thumb, he grew his own produce, like collard greens, chard, and heirloom tomatoes and carrots in Pennsylvania, and now raises a mélange of fresh vegetables and tropical fruits, including pineapple, guava, dwarf pink bananas, and sour oranges, in his home garden. 

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