Former Freestyle Skier John Coleman, Hotel Executive Chef
For The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas

Athlete Chef Directs Multiple Outlets and Innovative In-Room Dining Experience.

John Coleman, executive chef for The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas, hadn’t always planned to be a chef. His career route toward the kitchen met a 1989 crossroads when he faced the decision either to become a chef or to pursue life as a competitive freestyle skier. It is a choice that has been faced by few, if any, culinary luminaries.

The Boston native grew up loving the outdoors. Coleman has always liked nothing more than skiing, kayaking, rock climbing and competing in triathlons, and he supported himself through New England winters as a ski patroller, and in summers as a climber and Appalachian Mountain Club trail cook. Taking up freestyle skiing with a passion in the 1980s, Chef Coleman excelled enough to compete alongside Olympians and other champions of the sport. To this day, he still spends his free time on the mountain with skiing’s heroes.

John Coleman’s culinary training, passion and creativity ultimately led him toward the kitchen path, though, and they have led to an acclaimed 20-year career with The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. Considered a culinary Renaissance man, Coleman was originally influenced by his native New England landscape. He was influenced as well by student travels abroad, becoming familiar with the cuisines of Europe while bicycling through Ireland, Germany’s Black Forest, France’s Alsace and the Netherlands.

Coleman’s further repertoire includes New World, Southern, Florida, Texas and mid-Atlantic/Piedmont cooking, all of which he has come to know through his outdoor travels. “Through traveling, I’ve finally figured out what a restaurant means,” says Coleman. “It’s not just about the food, but about the setting, the culture and the local people.” Adding to his many favorites is a unique passion for cooking with smoke and fire. “I love the simplicity of working with flues and dampers to perfect the taste and temperature of foods,” Coleman explains. The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas provides ample opportunities for Coleman to showcase his award-winning specialties.

Not willing to settle just for culinary leadership, Chef John Coleman also has received accolades for innovation in restaurant management and process development. In his 25 years in the culinary arena he has trained restaurant teams, optimized kitchen and restaurant design and been in high demand for hotel restaurant openings. Dallas was his seventh Ritz-Carlton hotel opening.

Chef Coleman joined The Ritz-Carlton in 1989, beginning as a saucier at The Ritz-Carlton, Boston and developing new organizational and management programs for the renowned hotel’s kitchen operation. From 1991 to 1996, he worked under the tutelage of Gary Danko at The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco, serving for three years as chef of the hotel’s Terrace Restaurant, named among the top twenty restaurants in San Francisco by Gourmet Magazine. His achievements in San Francisco were followed by three years as executive sous chef for The Ritz-Carlton, Phoenix, where he developed and opened the hotel’s popular concept restaurant, Bistro 24, tripling hotel dining revenues, redesigning the kitchen and streamlining operational processes.

Chef Coleman joined The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas from a post as acting executive chef for The Ritz-Carlton, Tysons Corner in Virginia. While there, he oversaw a staff of 70 as well as the hotel’s Lounge, Steak House, 25,000 square feet of meeting space and 24-hour in-room dining for 398 guest rooms. He was a key member of the hotel’s leadership development program and directed numerous improvement processes that resulted in a #1 area rating for the hotel’s lounge and brunch.

As Executive Chef for The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas, Coleman directs culinary activities for the 218-room luxury hotel’s state-of-the-art meeting space, in-room dining operation, Fearing’s Restaurant breakfast service, lobby lounge, spa dining and year-round hotel holiday festivities and events. Chef Coleman is the father of three young daughters, including a 5 year-old, an 11-year-old who is already a climber and tae kwon do expert, and a snow-loving 6-year-old who took up skiing way back when, as a toddler.

Joe Scigliano
Executive Sous Chef
The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas

Joe Scigliano realized at a young age that love, happiness and fond memories transpired from cooking, but it was not until 2002 when he decided to turn this awareness into a career. His most delightful memories as a boy in Gaithersburg, Maryland always had one common element – homemade food. His grandmother, who was of German descent, turned every meal into an event by preparing a buffet of everything from native dishes to gourmet Italian and authentic Chinese. His father also loved cooking and taught him to never be afraid of taking risks in the kitchen.

When it came time to choose a career, Scigliano explored the sales and management industries. After a few years, in 2001, the horrific events of September 11th occurred and he realized that an individual’s life should be complete with love and self-fulfillment on a daily basis. During this turn of events, he reevaluated his career path and decided to enter a workplace that incorporated his passion and life goal.

In 2002, after attending Le Cordon Bleu Institute of Culinary Arts in Pittsburgh, Scigliano began a career with The Ritz-Carlton, Tysons Corner and was repeatedly promoted to eventually serve as Chef de Cuisine of the hotel’s restaurant, The Steakhouse. Five years later, he was selected to join the opening team of The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas as Banquet Chef.

In 2008, he became Executive Sous Chef and his leadership has been an integral part of the hotel’s recognition as a AAA Five-Diamond property and the No. 1 Large Hotel in the U.S by the Zagat Hotels, Resorts & Spas Survey. He continues to be a key leader in the hotel’s off-premise catering initiative, which opened the AT&T Performing Arts Center in Dallas, Texas by serving customized culinary creations to thousands of high-profile guests in a flawless manner.

Outside of overseeing the hotel’s culinary operations, Scigliano loves to immerse himself into a competitive atmosphere and all sports-related arenas.