The Pluckemin Inn Announces New Executive Chef

Media Contact: Nader Ashway nader@ashwaygroup.com
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Pluckemin Inn Introduces New Executive Chef

Bedminster, NJ - June 1, 2009 - Pluckemin Inn, the award-winning Bedminster restaurant, welcomes new Executive Chef Juan Jose Cuevas. Chef Cuevas will continue to deliver Pluckemin Inn's Contemporary American Cuisine through the use of fresh and mostly-local ingredients, in the rustic elegance of its colonial-era farmhouse setting.

Chef Cuevas comes to Pluckemin Inn most recently from 81 in New York City, where he was Executive Chef, working directly with Chef/Owner Dan Brown. An honors-graduate of the prestigious Culinary Institute of America, Chef Cuevas has cooked in some of the world's most stately kitchens in Spain, Puerto Rico and on both coasts of America. In San Francisco, he worked at Jardiniere and the Ritz-Carlton. In New York, he opened Alain Ducasse at the Essex House, and was Sous Chef at the internationally-acclaimed four-star Lespinasse. He ascended to the role of Executive Chef at Dan Barber's Blue Hill, a pioneer of the locavore establishments in New York City, where he garnered three stars from The New York Times during his tenure.

"We are extremely proud to have someone of Juan Jose's training and education here at Pluckemin Inn," said Gloria LaGrassa, owner of Pluckemin Inn. "His background in the world's greatest kitchens will be a joy for our diners to experience."

Pluckemin Inn diners have had a lot to enjoy since the restaurant's opening in 2005. The two previous Chefs garnered praise and attention for their recipes and their use of fresh ingredients. The restaurant is one of very few in the entire state to receive the prestigious 4-Diamond Award from AAA as well as the Award of Ultimate Distinction from Wine Enthusiast Magazine. And Food & Wine Magazine called Pluckemin Inn "one of the world's 50 most amazing wine experiences in America."

"Chef Cuevas will fall right in step here at the restaurant," noted General Manager and co-Director of Operations Tal Itzhaki. "He has an incredible ability to yield the most articulated essence of every ingredient. Plus, he has such an international flair, I think we'll see that reflected in the menu over the coming weeks."

Cuevas will be responsible for all items on the Lunch and Dinner Menus, Private Dining Menus, and a host of themes for Pluckemin Inn's exciting new "Friday Night Dinner Club," which explores food themes and cultures from around the world. Several signature dishes will remain on their respective menus.

About Pluckemin Inn

Pluckemin Inn is a fine dining restaurant in Bedminster, New Jersey. It offers contemporary American cuisine in an elegant, yet rustic environment. The restaurant seats approximately 140 on two levels, features the Plucky Tavern on the main level, and two private dining rooms on the lower level. The restaurant is completely wheelchair accessible on every level with an elevator. It was called "The Best Restaurant in New Jersey" by The Star-Ledger in 2007.

The restaurant has been quite favorably reviewed in its four+ year history by several notable publications, including
The New York Times, Crain's New York Business, Food & Wine, Wine Enthusiast, Wine Spectator, NJMonthly and in multiple reviews by The Star-Ledger.

A key feature of the restaurant is its notable wine service. Pluckemin Inn houses one of the most impressive and extensive wine collections on the East Coast, with more than 3,000 selections on the wine list. There are more than 15,000 bottles housed in the "tower," a three-story temperature-controlled wine room and in the underground cellars.

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