Gloriann Rivera

Executive Pastry Chef

Chef Gloriann Rivera grew up in Puerto Rico. She recalls, “I stayed with my grandparents on the weekends in the rural town of Coamo, Puerto Rico. I had the privilege of making pasteles, sorullo, and pastelillos with my abuela. My abuelo raised chickens and rabbit and he showed me how to cook them a la barbacoa. I had the best childhood with them”. She moved to Orlando to attend culinary school at ‘Le Cordon Bleu’, gradin 2012. She started working with Orlando based, highly respected Chef Brandon McGlamery and Pastry Chef Brian Cernell at ‘Prato’ and then at ‘Luma’, both in the Winter Park area of town. 

In 2016 Gloriann started working with Chef Norman Van Aken at ‘1921’ in scenic Mount Dora where he’d hired her to lead the pastry and in-house baking programs. The restaurant quickly won some of the region’s highest honors. People traveled far to dine there in the bucolic town. She had the opportunity to cook for The James Beard Foundation twice alongside mentors Chef Norman Van Aken and Chef Kathleen Blake, experiences she notes ‘were extraordinary career highlights’. 

Gloriann loves her husband and young son and spends her free time enjoying new restaurants, parks, and activities with them. She has been a vital part of Chef Norman Van Aken’s Central Florida restaurants since she began with him almost a decade ago. Chef Van Aken states, “Gloriann is an authentic natural who completely understands the ‘New World Cuisine’ total experience we seek to bring our guests. We are blessed to have her on our team”.