Dux at the Peabody Orlando Awarded AAA 4 Diamonds

19th Consecutive Year

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. October 14, 2008

ORLANDO, FL, December 3, 2007. Orlando is fast becoming the "new New Orleans" when it comes to fine dining restaurants. With the growing sophistication of restaurant patrons seeking great dining experiences rather than mundane sustenance, Orlando has come into its own as a "foodie" paradise for locals and hotel guests alike. All of the big names are now located in the International Drive area: Oceanaire, Capital Grille, Ruth's Chris, Seasons 52, Roy's and many, many more.

What propelled Orlando into the upper echelons of culinary, epicurean excellence? "The 'mother' of the Orlando area's rise to culinary fame can be attributed to what is universally acknowledged as the first - and arguably still the best - fine dining restaurant in Central Florida, Dux at The Peabody Orlando," Said Alan C. Villaverde, executive vice president/general manager. "This hotel opened its doors for business November 1, 1986, and to this day, Dux continues to reign supreme as the doyenne, the godmother of Orlando's top-tier restaurant scene. Put another way, Dux simply is the best of the best in Orlando."

AAA just recently awarded Dux its coveted Four Diamond rating - for the 19th consecutive year. "This is a phenomenal record of consistency and quality performance," commented Villaverde. "For nineteen straight years, Dux has held court with loyal local community patrons, and also with the hotel's meetings delegates who seek to entertain and impress clients and potential clients with a memorable, flawless, dining experience, paired with the right wines and post-prandial liqueurs. Orlando magazine recently named Dux as the Best Hotel Restaurant in Central Florida. And, the awards and accolades continue."

Dux began life in a most unlikely setting in the skeletal frame of what would become The Peabody Orlando. Rising from a cavernous hole in the ground, marooned in a vast sea of meadow brush, brambles and weeds on a then almost derelict International Drive, Dux was born in the belly of the 27-story, 892-room, 57,000 sq. ft. landmark hotel.

You might well ask, who in their right mind would place a luxury, upper upscale hotel, featuring a high-class, fine dining restaurant geared to the elevated tastes and demands of gastronomes and epicures, in that wasteland? The answer: Marty Belz, president and chairman of Peabody Hotel Group, headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee. Where America's biggest hotel chains saw only the wilderness of vacant, unattractive, land without infrastructure, Belz, younger then by 23 years, saw potential growth for the area because of the juxtaposition of the first phase of the Orange County Convention Center, directly across the street from the plot of land he had purchased for his hotel.

Since November 1, 1986, Dux has won every imaginable award of excellence, including the prestigious Ivy Award of Restaurants & Institutions. The restaurant is a masterpiece of understated comfort and elegance. Julio Delgado, chef de cuisine, has maintained the room's reputation for cutting-edge menus, highlighting fresh, local produce and inspired, artful presentation. Ever vigilant in current culinary trends, Chef Julio recently introduced a very successful series of menus featuring organic foods and wines. Trans fats are a thing of the past at all Peabody Hotels restaurants, and as menus evolve, so do the health benefits for patrons.