Jean Pierre Dubray Named Executive Chef Resort at Pelican Hill

Formerly the Executive Chef at Ritz-Carlton San Francisco

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. October 14, 2008

NEWPORT, CA, February 21, 2008. Jean Pierre Dubray, the acclaimed executive chef at The Ritz-Carlton San Francisco, has been named executive chef of The Resort at Pelican Hill, announced Giuseppe Lama, managing director of the ultra-luxurious destination resort, which promises to become a preferred getaway among sophisticated, high-end travelers.

Dubray is among the most accomplished and recognized chefs in California. At The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco, he led the hotel's culinary team, which operated two highly-regarded restaurants, as well as the property's in-room dining and banquet services. The restaurants included The Dining Room, one of the state's culinary stars and a recipient of countless honors, it earned an AAA Five Diamond rating and became one of only two restaurants in California and 17 in North America with Exxon/Mobil^a's Five-Star designation.

He will be responsible for The Resort at Pelican Hill's culinary offerings, comprising Andrea, serving Northern Italian cuisine with terrace dining; a poolside grill and bar offering relaxed, casual dining; Pelican Grill, the signature restaurant at Pelican Hill Golf Club which opened in November 2007; the resort's pastry and bakery operations; room service to 128 villas and 204 bungalows; and catering and special event services. He starts March 17.

"We searched the world, from Russia to Dublin, to find the very finest executive chef for The Resort at Pelican Hill and Jean Pierre stood out for his professionalism, accomplishments and passion," said Lama. "Beyond his proven management skills and extraordinary success in delivering the highest level of food service at world-renowned hotels, he is an inspired culinary artist brimming with ebullience about food and cooking."

Dubray grew up in the kitchen of his family's country house in France's Loire Valley, where they produced much of their own food. He enjoyed helping his mother prepare big family meals and by the time he was 15, when he enrolled in culinary school, he had decided it would be his life's work. He came to the United States in 1980 when he had an opportunity to be part of the opening team for La Vie en Rose restaurant in Brea, Calif., and he has been in the Golden State ever since, except for brief assignments all over the world as a pre-opening team trainer for new Ritz-Carlton hotels. He joined that company in 1984 when he was named the first dining room chef of the then newly opened The Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel.

A masterpiece in the making, The Resort at Pelican Hill is melding the precepts of internationally heralded Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio with the welcoming and relaxed style of coastal California. The resort is rising on a 504-acre site in Newport Coast, located between the chic and picturesque towns of Newport Beach and Laguna Beach, and boasts one of the most serene and beautiful coastal settings in Southern California. Here the Pacific Ocean laps uncrowded beaches and thousands of acres of coastal habitat are permanently protected as open space or designated for recreational uses only. > From throughout the resort, there will be vivid views of this natural bounty. The resort's first component, Pelican Hill Golf Club with 36 holes by Tom Fazio, opened in November 2007; all other components -128 bungalows and 204 villas, 20,000 square feet of plush function space for every type of event, luxurious spa with 22 treatment rooms, spectacular and secluded wedding venues, world-class restaurants and Coliseum pool will open in fall 2008.