Michael B. Carstens, former executive chef at the Lord Baltimore Hotel, ended his life June 16 at his Fells Point home. He was 30.
"Mike had struggled with depression," said his sister, Jenn Bimberg of Portland, Ore.
The son of David Carstens, a contractor, and Anita Carstens, a city public schools educator, Michael Benjamin Carstens was born in Baltimore and raised in Owings Mills.
He attended the Jemicy School and graduated from Owings Mills High School in 2003.
Mr. Carstens was a 2006 graduate of the Baltimore International College, where he earned degrees in professional baking and pastry and professional cooking and baking.
"Mike graduated at the top of his class and was a gold winner in school culinary competitions," his sister said. "He was also one of six students selected for a prestigious international internship."
He had apprenticed at the three-Michelin-starred restaurant Alinea in Chicago and at the acclaimed French Laundry in Yountville, Calif.
He began his career in 2006 at the Harryman House in Reisterstown as a sushi and pastry chef. He later worked for Hilton Worldwide and Sheraton Hotel and Resorts, and at Alizee American Bistro on University Parkway.
In 2014, he was named executive chef and beverage manager at the Lord Baltimore Hotel, where the menu he introduced for the hotel's French Kitchen dining room included "French toast with bananas Foster pan perdu, fried chicken with a Meyer lemon waffle and grilled peach jam, eggs Benedict and both a crepe du jour and a quiche du jour," reported The Baltimore Sun at the time.
"He stepped down in March," said Ms. Bimberg.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Aug. 16 at the Jemicy School, 11 Caledon Road, Owings Mills.
In addition to his sister and parents of Owings Mills, Mr. Carstens is survived by his daughter, Melody D. Carstens, 12, of Mount Washington; a brother, Steven Carstens of Catonsville; a paternal step-grandmother, Marion Carstens of Tampa, Fla.; and his fiancee, Sarah Feldman of Fells Point.
An earlier version omitted his surviving daughter. The Sun regrets the error.