The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco named Nathan Beriau executive chef of the AAA Five Diamond hotel on February 15, 2011. Beriau oversees all hotel culinary activities, including dining in Parallel 37, In-Room Dining, banquets and catering. Chef Beriau was most recently the hotel’s Executive Sous Chef under the wing of prior Executive Chef, Patrick Callarec. “We are very pleased for Chef Beriau to take over leadership of our culinary team. He is very dynamic and a passionate chef, committed to working with and promoting local farmers and sustainable producers,” said Raúl Salcido, General Manager at The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco. “Chef Beriau brings a contemporary style, influenced by traditional California cuisine and never compromises sourcing the very best seasonal ingredients for his always creative and healthy cuisine,” he continued.

“I am thrilled to continue to work with and now lead such an outstanding culinary team for such a well-respected San Francisco landmark. My main focus is to continue and strengthen our relationships with local farmers and producers while sourcing the freshest ingredients as possible for our guests,” says Chef Beriau.

A native of New England, Beriau was inspired to get behind the stoves by his father, Chef Wilfred Beriau, Department Chair of the Culinary Arts Program at Southern Maine Technical College, and recipient of the American Culinary Federation, Inc., (ACF) Chef Educator of the Year award. Learning from and looking up to his father, Beriau always dreamed of being a chef and never had any other career ambition. While receiving an Associates Degree in Culinary Arts from Southern Maine Community College, Beriau worked as a cook at Portland Marriott at Sable Oaks before becoming a Kitchen Manager at Falmouth Sea Grill, both in Portland, ME. Beriau then enhanced his culinary training working alongside some of the region’s most renowned chefs including Rob Evans, Sam Hayward and Al Hines and carrying the Sous Chef role in the area’s many top restaurants before becoming Chef de Cuisine in 2002 at the Harraseeket Inn, located in Freeport, ME. In this role, Beriau oversaw the fine dining restaurant MDR in the AAA Four Diamond inn, working with Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association-certified farmers to produce the monthly-changing seasonal menus.

In 2005, Chef Beriau and his wife set their sights on San Francisco, joining The Dining Room team at The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco. After two years in The Dining Room, Beriau became the opening Sous Chef of Epic Roasthouse in San Francisco where the restaurant received Three Stars by The San Francisco Chronicle. In 2008, Beriau returned to The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco as a Banquet Chef and was promoted just a year later to his most recent role of Executive Sous Chef, becoming the back bone of the hotel’s culinary operations.