Celebrity Chef Phillip Dell embodies the fulfillment of mind over matter both professionally and personally. He's successful as an award-winning chef, as a competitive bodybuilder and powerlifter, and as an individual who lost 92 pounds and has kept it off.

Dell's objective in life is to teach healthy eating and cooking habits to people on a wide-scale and to help them not only transform the food they eat, but themselves as well. In Las Vegas, he's currently the proprietor of Sin City Chefs Inc., a private chef and on-site catering service company, and a professional chef instructor at the Creative Cooking School.

He also teaches “Tasty Transformations,” on-site classes where Chef Phillip takes classic recipes and transforms them using wholesome ingredients to put them "over the top."

Dell's food journey began in his childhood with his passion for cooking. That interest led him to acquire a Certificate of Culinary Arts at Traverse Bay Area Career Tech Center and a degree in Pastry Arts, as well as a minor in Nutritional Science, at the prestigious Johnson & Wales University in Providence, RI. He went from being a butcher's helper at Deering's Meat Market in Traverse City, MI, before college, to Pastry Chef de Partie at Wynn-Las Vegas, where he was promoted to Assistant Pastry Sous Chef. Other establishments where he worked include: Grand Traverse Resort, Acme, MI; Grand Geneva Resort & Spa and Kirsch's, Lake Geneva, WI; Sunrise Café and Van Gogh's in GA; Dusty's Cellar, Hooters of Lansing, and L & L Food Centers in Michigan; and On the Sweet Side, Inc., which he owned.

Chef Dell's arduous success route involved spending endless hours cooking, creating and tasting, earning numerous certifications, and winning multiple national culinary competitions. Shortly after a divorce, he moved to Las Vegas and began his physical transformation.

"I literally woke up one morning and didn't like what I saw in the mirror," said Dell. "I was a short, fat, young guy with a serious case of acid reflux. I couldn't stand the way I felt or looked. So, I decided to change it!"

He began by slowly changing his eating habits- first eliminating soda and then starches, exercising, and eating the right foods every two to three hours. He lost 92 pounds from January 2005 to July 2006, and went from a body fat of 36 to 9 percent. About halfway through the process, a friend dragged him to the gym; once Dell was hooked, he tried bodybuilding and, with Get Lean Las Vegas master trainer Carlos Nunez, prepared for his first season of competing.

After his weight loss, amazing changes happened: no more acid reflex, lower blood pressure, better skin and the list continued. In his first year competing, Dell finished top five in six shows and competed as a part of Team USA 2007 in Greece. Last year, he added power lifting, and on Oct. 8, 2010, he won the title of World Champion for the Deadlift in his weight class.

During his time of transformation, Dell built a thriving, personal chef and on-site catering business and started teaching classes in healthy cooking and eating at the Creative Cooking School. Chef Dell teaches people how to turn the foods they love into healthier versions while maintaining the taste they want. He has cooked for stars of music and film, and helped clients achieve their weight loss and health goals. Chef Dell has taught healthy eating seminars for diabetics, and recently won the endorsement of the American Heart Association in recognition of his heart healthy menus and cooking style.

Another major change in Dell's life was getting remarried and becoming the instant father of three teenagers. Dell's goal is incorporating everything that he is into a "Gift for the Universe"... a thank you, if you will, for everything that has happened to him... for the wonderful wild ride with his "Great Success... and Great Loss!"

Awards and Highlights

• American Culinary Federation—1996 Junior ACF culinary team member.  Gold Medal/Champions:  Northeast Regional Championship.
• Nine top-three finishes in U.S. pastry and confectionary competitions including: Michigan State Champion two years in a row (Vocational Industrial Clubs of America).
• Six awards in national barbeque circuit competitions, including three top-three finishes in Michigan and two top-three finishes in Minnesota.  Member of the Kansas City Barbecue Society.
• Nearly 20 awards in natural bodybuilding competitions.  Personal health & bodybuilding awards stemming from the creation of the “Taste the Transformation” diet and health program. Member of Team U.S.A., an international natural bodybuilding competition team.  Member of the International Bodybuilding Association, which has voted him “Most Improved and Dedicated.”
• World and regional champion powerlifter.  Member of the American Athletic Union.
• Chef to the “Rich and Famous” including:
  • Multiple Award Winning Actors - Tony Curtis and Ernest Bourgnine
  • Former Governor of Michigan - John Engler
  • Former American Ambassador to Bermuda - Larry Owen
  • Singer/Songwriter - Wade Hammond
  • National Faith and Motivational Speaker - Kathy Hammond
  • Dove Award Winning Singer/Songwriter - Dallas Holm
  • …and many others
• Endorsed by the American Heart Association
• Strong management skills, skilled at controlling costs in both food service industry and restaurant settings. 
• As Bakery Manager of L&L Food Centers, he was responsible for a 40 percent improvement in bakery sales over a one-year period. 
• As Executive Pastry Chef of Dusty’s Cellar, he improved pastry sales from $250 per day to $600 per day.
• Serve/Safe® Sanitation Certification from National Restaurant Association.
• Bar Code® Certified by the Michigan Restaurant Association.

Proprietor of three entrepreneurial ventures:

• On The Sweet Side, Inc., a dessert and pastry business
• Wizard’s Gourmet, a vendor of specialty seasonings and gourmet food items
• Sin City Chefs Inc., a private chef and on-site catering service specializing in recipe transformation and healthy eating.