The Woodlands (Houston), Texas, March 2018… BENCHMARK®, a global hospitality company, has named Sean Ruddy executive chef for High Hampton Resort, located in Cashiers, North Carolina. The resort is a Benchmark Resorts & Hotels® property. Tom Garcia, Benchmark’s vice president and general manager, made the announcement.
“I am so pleased to welcome Sean to High Hampton Resort” said Mr. Garcia. “He blends his love for cooking and his profound appreciation of the importance cuisine plays in our guests’ lives with his tremendous love for the south and the region’s unique flavors.”
Chef Sean Ruddy was previously the executive chef for the Greystone Inn of Lake Toxaway, North Carolina. During his tenure there, the property was named to Conde Nast Traveler’s prestigious listing of Top 15 Places to Stay in the United States, and it achieved Four Diamond status.
Sean Ruddy began his culinary career at the young age of 15 working part time in restaurants hear his home. He graduated from Florida Culinary Institute in West Palm Beach following high school. After this, he moved to the Caribbean to the Cayman Islands, where his knowledge of blending the flavors of diverse cultures and using fresh local ingredients and spices was developed. He completed his culinary studies at the Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena, California.
“I love taking cooking styles from diverse regions and bringing these to the south,” said Chef Ruddy, who identifies his cooking style as New Southern Cuisine. “Cooking is an act of love and it requires a special touch to make it appealing to everyone.” Sean Ruddy resides in Toxaway, North Carolina.
