Dale Ray
Dale Ray
Executive Chef
Born in Durham, North Carolina, Dale became interested in food at an early age, attributing his passion for good cooking to his mother’s talent and growing up enjoying the fresh ingredients from his grandparents’ farm. In 1992, he came up through the ranks in the cutting-edge, open kitchen of restaurateur Giorgio Bakatsias’ Café PariZade in Durham. He soon became enamored with cooking and, after three years under Bakatsias’ guidance, moved to Maryland to attend L’Academie de Cuisine.
In the mid-‘90s, while studying, Dale landed an externship at Washington, D.C.’s Citronelle where he worked alongside acclaimed chef Michel Richard, as well as for Richard’s friend, the legendary Jean-Louis Palladin whose Watergate Hotel restaurant was nearby. It was during this time that he experienced one of the highlights of his career: Jean-Louis Palladin asked the “young American” to cook for him and his guests. After Palladin shared his critique of the five-course meal with Richard, chef Dale was promoted to executive sous chef at the widely acclaimed Citronelle.
In 1997, after working under chef Patrick O’Connell at the Inn at Little Washington, where as many as five dishes from Dale’s repertoire graced O’Connell’s award-winning menu, Dale, inspired to learn more about kitchen and restaurant management, moved on to Chicago’s Pump Room where he was executive sous chef. Soon thereafter he moved on to the James Beard award-winning restaurant Brasserie Jo, where he was executive chef.
From 2003 - 2006, Dale was tapped to oversee three restaurant kitchens as executive chef at the Tahoe Mountain Club in California where signature regional American cuisine was featured at their fine dining restaurant, Wild Goose. By encouraging diners to customize their own menus through a series of small plates, he elevated the dining experience and received a great deal of acclaim and media attention. In just three years time, he was one of four chefs asked to represent the West Coast for the James Beard Foundation’s “Best of the West” dinner. He most recently graduated with a Master of Science and Organizational Leadership from Norwich University in Vermont, an experience he feels plays a pivotal role in who he is as a chef. In particular his passion for both teambuilding and employee development are hallmark traits he honed while achieving his Master’s education.
Most recently, Dale has been using his passion, talent, and extensive experience at one of South Florida’s most beautiful destination restaurants, Loftin’s 1116 Ocean. “Creating menus for savvy locals and international visitors at a beautiful Miami mansion is certainly a hard act to follow but the rare setting and the reputation of Napa Valley’s Mustards Grill gives me the opportunity to be a part of the nation’s preeminent culinary scene and cook for the most sophisticated diners in the world. I am in chef heaven,” notes Dale about his new dream role at Mustards Grill.
