Within a year, Troy was sous chef at one of Yamaguchi’s most popular restaurants, Roy’s Kahana Bar and Grill in Maui.
“Roy taught me so much,” Troy says of the experience. “I learned how to work with fresh fish like Hamachi and Hawaiian Pink Snapper (opakapaka), and Pacific Rim ingredients like soy, cilantro, ginger, and yuzu ingredients I've grown to love. And with guest chefs stopping by—Nobu, Bradley Ogden, Wolfgang Puck, Michael Mina, Douglas Rodriguez—I learned new things all the time." Troy joined Yamaguchi for his next culinary adventure, the launch of Roy’s New China Max in Hong Kong. By age 25, he was responsible for ten Roy’s outposts throughout Asia.
Troy spent eight years working closely with Yamaguchi before taking the coveted post of Executive Chef at New York City hotspot Tao. Leading a high-volume operation with a large kitchen staff prepared him for his next calling at The Raffles Hotel in Singapore—where, as Chef de Cuisine at the world-renowned Doc Cheng's restaurant, he developed his own unique Pacific Rim style.
It was at Doc Cheng’s that Troy met Richard Sandoval, the visionary behind award-winning “Modern Mexican” concept restaurants across the U.S. Together, Guard and Sandoval hatched the idea of creating
Denver’s first Latin-Asian fusion restaurant, Zengo, in the city’s emerging Riverfront area.
